A Koopa's Story
by Joseph A. Genesis
Summary: At the Super Smash mansion, Bowser Jr. is having trouble getting ahead. All that’s about to change as someone takes him under their wing. Bowser Jr x Krystal Fox x Krystal Bowser x Peach Mario x Zelda
1. Chapter 1

A Koopa's story 

By, Notfromearth7

At the Super Smash mansion, Bowser Jr. is having trouble getting ahead. All that's about to change as someone takes him under their wing. Bowser Jr x Krystal Fox x Krystal Bowser x Peach Mario x Zelda

I don't own Bowser Jr. or anyone else 

Chapter 1

Big break

Bowser Jr sat on the picnic bench in the backyard of the Smash Mansion. He was visibly happy because he had upped his fighting ability by a large amount. He was always the embarrassment of the family, the black sheep, Daddy's boy, and the wimp. _Not today. _he thought. His hope had always been to win the tournament to impress his father King Koopa and most importantly, his siblings.

As Junior thought about this Roy came and sat next to him, "Hey Junior, Master Hand has a huge announcement to make." Roy said excitedly

"Announcement huh? Tell The Master to keep his glove on. I'll be right in."

Roy grinned and ran inside. Roy had always been Junior's best friend since arriving. Not only did he room with Marth, Roy and his father, but Roy was also helping him train. For he also knew how hard it can be to impress a family member. Junior ran inside and took his corner seat at the dining room table. Master Hand rang the dinner bell, "Yoshiyoshioshi!" Yoshi chirped enthusiastically

"No Yoshi, it isn't dinner time quite yet, I'm just trying to get everyone's attention." Master Hand explained

As Yoshi sighed, Master Hand continued, "To create more fairness in the Smash community, I'm officially creating weight divisions."

Chatter ensued particularly among the lighter younger contestants, "Whew, no more fighting Bowser!" Pikachu yelled

Master Hand wagged his finger, "Actually, the weight division is merely a way of ranking the contestants. So you will fight people out of your classification at several points."

As Pikachu's ears drooped down Master Hand made a long scroll appear. It read:

Heavyweights

Bowser

Donkey Kong

Ganondorf

King K. Rool

Rhydon

Wario

Nasir

Middleweights

Luigi

Mario

Marth

Dr.Mario

Roy

Yoshi

Peach

Zelda

Link

Solid Snake

Captain Falcon

Samus

Falco Lombardi

Fox McCloud

Krystal

Wolf O'Donnell

Mach Rider

Ike

Lightweights

Pikachu

Meta-Knight

Waluigi

Diddy Kong

Bowser Jr.

Little Mac

Mewtwo

Pichu

Jigglypuff

Mr.Game and Watch

Young Link

Tingle

Ty

Bomberman

Knuckles

Geno

Captain Olimar

Sonic

Kirby

King Deedee

As everyone examined it with great intrigue, Bowser Jr. grinned, "What a bunch of wimps! I could wipe my ass with the Lightweights." he whispered to himself

Meta-Knight grunted. _I could teach that arrogant snot a thing or two _he thought

The scroll disappeared in a puff of smoke, "Now, based on the break the targets tests, we will determine the rankings of each person for each division. Bowser and DK will square off for the #1 ranking in the heavyweight division. Mario and Mach Rider will fight for the Middleweight title and Bowser Jr. will go head to head with Meta-Knight for the top ranking in the Lightheavyweight division.

Meta-Knight smirked under his helmet, "At last." he muttered

Bowser Jr. was beside himself, "Now I get to impress my Papa." he nearly screamed

Under his helmet, Meta-Knight grinned, "So this is what this about huh? You're less selfish than I thought Firebreath."

Bowser Jr. smirked, "I can do more than that."

A few minutes later, Junior was sitting in the portal room on a long metallic bench opposite Meta-Knight. Bowser had just captured the Heavyweight Championship and Mach Rider had pulled out a victory over Mario. To him, all had gone according to plan. All he needed to do was win, "Bowser Junior and Meta-Knight, you're up."

The two stepped on to the portal and were phased out of the room

AN: Yay, fight scene next chapter! Oh, and Captain Olimar's appearance will mean something later. At first it was just as a dedication to my numeral uno fan Calderous but it'll mean something I've decided


	2. Chapter 2: Not satisfied

Chapter 2,

Meta-Knight vs. Bowser Jr.

Bowser Jr was disappointed with what he saw next. He'd been warped to the Battlefield Stage!

According to what his father had told him, when he had taken control of the Smash community, he had something called the "Trouble King Invitational." where anyone could try and outlast Bowser for two minutes. He had been beat by a rat called Pichu which angered him so. Now, he was able to redeem his family's honor on the stage that caused him so much pain, "FIGHT!" the announcer boomed

Bowser Junior ran over to his opponent, did a front flip over him, and tossed him off the stage. Suddenly, Meta-Knight's dark purple cape turned into a set of bat wings. As he touched the ground, Junior smirked, "Now I know why they call you _Meta_-Knight."

"You're a smart one kid." Meta-Knight commented

Junior backfliped on to a platform near the end of the stage and tried to dive forward but Meta-Knight slashed his shoulder knocking him down, "Now I know why they call you Junior, you have a lot to learn."

Meta-Knight stomped away at Junior's possibly dislocated shoulder. After that, he started to grab the shoulder trying to pull it out of its socket. With his free hand, Junior snapped his fingers and Shadow Mario kicked Meta-Knight in the head causing him to break his grip. As Bowser Junior rolled away, Shadow Mario hit Meta-Knight with a good punch to the gut and then two uppercuts to the jaw. Bowser Junior saw his opportunity and lunged with his claw fully extended. Since Meta-Knight had his back turned on Junior, the claw was able to shred the cape into tiny pieces. In one quick motion, Shadow Mario tossed Meta-Knight forward and Junior did a diving headbutt knocking him down. As Shadow Mario went in closer, Meta-Knight stuck his sword up piercing the shadow's chin and making it evaporate. In a rage, Junior grabbed Meta-Knight's head and punched at it knocking him out. Junior then set up a dizzy Meta-Knight in front of one of the platforms and stood upon it as if to jump on top of Meta-Knight. Suddenly, Meta-Knight swept Junior's legs out from under him with his shoulder causing him to fall forward. Just as Meta-Knight was about to strike the deciding blow on his shoulder, Junior pulled out his paint brush and blocked the blow. A sword fight broke out and Meta-Knight panted, "You handle that just like a blade."

Seeing that a Super Scope had fallen out of midair, Meta Knight sliced Bowser Junior's shoulder and dashed over to it. Meta-Knight's body glowed yellow for a few seconds before firing it. Suddenly, Junior grabbed his trusty paintbrush and swatted it at the huge ball of energy. Satisfied with the fact that it had turned a rainbow color, he swung the paintbrush and it turned towards his enemy. As it exploded, Meta Knight fell backward and weakly crawled his way to the end of the stage. Just as Bowser Junior was about to give him the final shove, Meta-Knight tripped him and started to pull his shoulder out of the socket. Rather than give up, he crawled off of the stage sending both of them downward

From the crowd their was a pause, "Due to the fact that Bowser Junior was disqualified by ringout first the fights winner is Meta-Knight!"

AN: I own no one hahah!


	3. Chapter 3: Not satisfied 2

Chapter 3

Not satisfied

Bowser Jr. just walked out of Dr. Mario's medical room. The good

Doctor had said that there was a severe kink in his shoulder which had moved up to his neck. As Junior twisted his shoulder back into place, Meta-Knight came up to him, "Good fight kid." he said, extending a hand.

The younger Koopa shoved it away and walked off, hiding tears of embarrassment. After wandering through the halls of the Mansion, he eventually found his dad

reading a magazine with a pro wrestling style belt over his shoulder,

"Good job son." he said, flashing an honest smile, then lost it as he saw his sad visage.

"That means a lot Papa," Junior said tearfully,"I'm sorry I couldn't become as good as you."

Bowser put a hand on his son's shoulder and Junior looked up. His father was smiling again.

"Don't be sorry, son. You're still just a kid, as much as you dislike the fact, and Meta-Knight has been fighting for years. At least you went down fighting, I would've been angrier had you just tapped out." Junior broke his father's gaze and looked down.

"Yeah, but I still didn't win." he mumbled as he lumbered off, his father watching worriedly.

He wandered down the halls again, with couple of people asking if anything was wrong, until he bumped into the Fire Emblem gang, Hey,

Junior." Marth said, obviously not noticing Junior's depressed expression, "These are my friends Ike

and Nasir. Ike and Nasir, meet Bowser Junior."

"Hey guys." he said a little glumly.

"Fire Dragon." Nasir growled his eyes narrowing

"Ease up," Marth warned, "Just because you're an Ice

Dragon doesn't mean we can't be friends."

Junior looked up. He saw that Nasir and Ike were eyeing him with

Intense hostility, and was taken aback,"I must agree Nasir on this issue,"Ike inquired, "Fire Dragons are cold hearted and mindless. Ice Dragons however are peaceful beings that are powerful."

Junior looked rather offended by this, and growled, with flames leaking out of his nostrils. Then, without warning, Nasir transformed into his Ice Dragon form and tried to toss Junior at the wall but he quickly squirmed out of it. Just as Nasir was about give chase, a laser blast scraped Nasir's cheek. He turned around to see Krystal, Fox, Falco and Wolf standing behind him all four of them had their lasers drawn, "You know, where we come from, attacking a child is generaly looked down upon." Falco spoke with no humor in his voice.

The Fire Emblem gang charged forward. Wolf picked up Ike and tossed him on the ground while both Falco and Marth were knocked out by a Fire Falco.

Before Junior could run away from the street fight, Nasir was towering over him.

"Say goodbye, runt." he growled.

Nasir sucked in his gut and a heavy white mist covered the young Koopa.

Just as he felt himself being frozen, a blue light surrounded him and the developing ice shattered. Bowser Junior blinked to find Krystal standing over Nasir twirling her staff, "Cool staff." Bowser Junior shuttered still trying to recover from the cold

"Thanks…" she started to say but was cut off by Master Hand "This is enough! Tomorrow we're going to have a 10 man staminamatch. It will be Team Star Fox and Bowser Junior against Team Fire Emblem and Meta-Knight."

As Master Hand disappeared, Bowser Junior turned his attention back to Krystal, "Hey, can you teach me how to do some of that stuff ?"

The staff retracted and she pocketed it, then she looked at the young Koopa with humor.

"If you can handle it." was her response as she walked away

Junior stood there for a moment scurried down the hall. Bowser tapped him on the head,"Even if you lose, you'll still be in the history books of Smash." glad to see his son looking a little better.

Just as Bowser Junior flashed a satisfied grin, Mario and Peach came into view walking hand in hand, "Hey Mom." Junior muttered, and flashed a dark grin.

Mario froze. His body shook and his face reddened, "Cover your ears son." Bowser commanded.

He did as his father had commanded, Bowser Junior could barely make out the words but he could tell Mario was ANGRY and the relationship was over.

Mario then stomped off. Bowser sighed, _Krystal_¦ he thought with a sigh

**NFE7: Huff...weeze after nearly a year of hiatus I present to you the newest chapter of Koopa's Story, now co-authored with Bowser Junior, who I must say, worded the fic about 10 times better than I did. With that said, if you want a good laugh and want to see the original version, PM me in advance!**


	4. Chapter 4: Forgiveness

Chapter 4

Forgiveness

Bowser Morton Koopa Junior carried his tray in the cafeteria of the Smash

Mansion. Immediately, he took his seat next to Mario, "Get-a away

from-a me you-a brat-a." Mario said coldly.

Junior responded by jabbing Mario with a clawed finger.

"It isn't my fault that Peach was my biological mom. She's a self

absorbed uncaring jerk."

Mario, who couldn't disagree, gave sly grin

"Well-a put-a." Mario said quietly, so Peach couldn't hear.

The two shook hands discretely. Just then, Peach appeared clinging to

Bowser's arm,

"I-a knew this-a would-a happen eventually." Mario snarled

"You never filled my needs."

Mario stared, "I thought-a that this-a was-a on-a a friendship

basis-a." he stammered,

"I liked you for a time, but you never capitalized unlike my

Incredibly intelligent friend Bowser here," Peach crooned.

Bowser grinned, and then his grin broadened to a smile when Peach

called him

"intelligent" "You were always dimwitted Mario. Never even used

a gun."

Mario blinked, "You had-a guns-a this whole time-a?"

"Sorry," Peach said with false innocence.

"Junior, come." Bowser ordered

Bowser Junior walked away just in time to see Mario turn over his table

in rage, who received stares from other smashers in the room.

Meanwhile, Fox and Krystal were in their small four person dorm, "You

know, that was really nice of you to train the kid," Fox inquired,

"Guess he's less of a jerk than his dad."

"I believe he has good inside of him whether he likes it or not."

Fox blinked confusedly, "The kid or his dad ?"

"Both. They just need someone to show them the good in their

hearts."

"Have you ever considered becoming a psychiatrist?" Fox said as he

kissed his girlfriend on the cheek

"Although that would be a good job for me, I think you might want to

give me a little more reassuring," Krystal said as she wrapped her arms around Fox

The two kissed and they walked out of the room to find Falco and Wolf standing there, both of them with bemused looks.

"'Bout time you were done with your private time, Foxie", Falco

chuckled.

"Yeah, maybe we should get out so you two pups can get a room."

Fox and Krystal chuckled and headed down to the teleportation room.

Meta-Knight was pacing in the teleportation room. Unlike his fellow

contestants, he liked to show up nice and early for fights. _For the_

_embarrassment he caused me yesterday, it is time_ he thought. Suddenly,

a sword

swung at his back and Meta-Knight blocked it in a swift motion. He

turned around to see Link standing behind him breathing heavily, "What do you want ,elf ?" Meta-Knight growled

"Zelda's getting really clingy to Mario because she's sorry for

him. Sorry!"

"Who do I look like, Yoshi? You won't get much sympathy from me."

"I'm not asking for sympathy! I'm looking for a match. If you let

Me take your place, I'll put in a favor for you."

Meta-Kinght kicked Link in the shins and sliced Link across the chest,

"No." Meta-Knight stated.

The Fire Emblem gang walked in just in time to see Link stumble out of the

room, "What's his problem?" Roy asked

"He messed with the wrong knight."

Suddenly, Team Star Fox and Bowser Junior burst into the room, "10

Man Smash, Stamina, you're up."

The ten crowded on to the pads and were warped to the Hyrule Temple

Stage.


	5. Chapter 5: 10 man Brawl

Chapter 5

The 10-man Brawl

Immediately after the ten were warped to the battlefield, Junior jumped

On Nasir knocking him down, After about three claw swipes to his forehead, Nasir tossed Junior off of him. Meta-Knight then did a flip into the air and pointed his sword downward. Bowser Junior rolled out of the way just in time, to see Meta-Knight accidentally get frozen by Nasir. Junior

grinned. "Looks like their team work is a little shady." he thought before walking away.

Meanwhile, on the lower floor, Krystal and Ike were circling each

other,

"You are quite the lass. I hope to see you againâ€¦just not under

these conditions." Ike told her.

Krystal giggled, "Thanks, but I already have a boyfriend." she said.

Krystal hit Ike with the bottom end of her staff causing him to crouch down. Bowser Junior then jumped off the top and pulled Ike down. Then Wolf, Fox, and

Falco made a half-circle and fired their blasters furiously. Suddenly,

a white mist scraped them causing them to be incased in ice, "You and I have business to finish little one." Nasir growled as he jumped down

towards Bowser Junior.

The little Koopa gulped, but pulled out his brush, ready to defend

himself..

Nasir towered a good four feet over him. Junior trembled as he sucked in his gut. Suddenly, Meta-Knight swooped down and

hacked Nasir down with his sword, "This makes us even." he said

before purposely diving of the stage

"What?" Nasir asked before being knocked out by Roy

"That's for being so mean to my buddy!"

"And what about my buddy!" Ike asked before taking a swing at Marth

Ike jumped upward causing Marth to stagger backward. He then hit him straight in the chest knocking him down. Before he knew it, he was

Engulfed in

Roy's explosion. When the smoke cleared, it was common knowledge the

Both men had been laid out!

"Here are your winners, Bowser Junior and the Star Fox Team!" the

announcer yelled

"I don't know if you know this, but there's a little thing called

teamwork. Know it and love it." Falco said with one of his signature

smirks

The ten contestants were warped back to the Smash Mansion.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Death

The ten were warped back and went their separate ways. Suddenly, Zelda

ran up to Bowser Junior and grabbed him, "It's Link. He's dead!"

"What?" Fox asked, not believing what he just heard.

"You heard me big ears! Dead!"

Zelda sucked in a breath and exhaled, "Junior, if you know anything

about this tell me now."

"No, I don't. I have nothing against Link at all. Why would I kill him?"

"You I'm not worried about. Itâ€™s your deadweight father." she

said her eyes narrowing

For a moment, Bowser Junior looked livid, ready to tear out Zelda's

throat for insulting his father, but was able to put his anger behind him. He

and

Krystal walked away. Later, after a round of training, Bowser Junior and Krystal walked back to the Starfox team's room. The two sat down in metal chairs, "So, where were my errors at?" he asked

Krystal chuckled, "You're smart Bowser Junior. Yet, you don't

know what powers your staff possesses."

"How do you even know what power my paint brush possesses?"

"It's much more than a simple art utensil." Krystal explained,

"I was reading this month's addition of Staff Monthly and I read an article on your staff. It's called the Rainbow Doom. It has the power to control any entity once the magic paint is applied to it."

"So in theory, I could control anything?" Junior said breathlessly, looking down at his brush as if it was made of gold.

"Anything, young one. You mustn't become to dependent on it though. That's why I have called upon these two to train you."

Krystal motioned with her paw and Little Mac and Captain Olimar walked into the room.

"Huh?" Junior asked

"That's right dragon boy. Little Mac in da house." Little Mac said

"Reporting for duty!" Olimar yelled

Junior blinked, "No offense, guys, but why them?"

"Simple, Junior, you need to learn how to operate like a lightweight. I'm here to teach you how to fightâ€¦hand-to-hand style and Olimar's here

to teach you some hand motions that he uses with the Pikmin." Mac explained

"I'm sorry, but I'm not to good with interpretive dance."

Junior said, causing Krystal to giggle some.

"Here, let me show you." Olimar stated, pulling out two pieces of

paper. One showed a drawing of Bowser Junior, holding his staff by the

bottom pointing it outward.

"Now, if you used this stance, which is a common misconception as the appropriate stance." Krystal began, "There are about seven points

from which you are venerable and you are have trouble controling the movement of the staff. However, if you learn how to use the staff like so."

Krystal trailed off, pulling out another drawing, much better than Olimar's two, they showed Junior holding the staff with a sheath on his back, his

hands emitting an aurora of some kind, "You will be able to punch, kick, and control whatever it is you have under the mercy of the staff." Junior nodded, but didn't fully understand.

Bowser Junior was training for what seemed like an eternity, "C'mon

Junior quicker!" Krystal gestured to her trainee, who was practicing claw swipes.

Beads of sweat were dripping off of the small Koopa's scales, but Junior only

nodded. Progressively, his claw swipes turned into a flurry.

"Try jumping into the air and doing what you just did." Mac

commanded.

Junior jumped off of a platform and did the move, "It feels a lot

more natural."

"Point made baby!" Mac shouted, â€œDon't do that on the ground,

it's kind of a pain to pull off, especially with speedier opponents."

Junior smiled in understanding as the dinner bell rang, "We shall continue the rest tomorrow."Krystal explained walking out of the room

_What a kid¦ _Krystal thought as she headed down the long stairwell connecting the second floor with the first.


	7. Chapter 7:More training and a signup

Chapter 7

Training and a sign up

(AN: Sorry if the line breaking is messed up, I accidentally did something)

Bowser Junior scowled as Olimar called forth one of his Pikmin, which he swiped with his paint brush. He then made a pointing gesture with both

claws and the Pikmin squirmed down Olimar's pants, "Ooh hoo, hah hah, that tickles!" Olimar laughed as he fell to the floor in a giggle fit.

Krystal watched the practice match in intrigue. Junior and Olimar had been trading blows for about 20 minutes, one never dominating over the

other. Krystal couldn't help but smile at herself, as she had given Junior access to a new skill which he had never used before, cleverness, a technique that was essential while battling with the high flying Lightweight Division.

Olimar had gotten the rainbow colored Pikmin out of his pants and jumped forward causing Junior to roll backward, "No no no! Show some

aggression, fight him like he's Nasir!" Krystal ordered from the viewing room. Krystal slapped a hand to her mouth. As soon as the words left her

mouth, she knew that it was the wrong thing to say. Her ideas were further proven as the Koopa's expression seemed to darken. She watched in horror as Junior did a sideways roll at Olimar, sweeping off his feet and causing him to land with a sickening thud head first. Bowser Junior then looked at his somewhat dazed opponent, smiling evilly. He then delivered a huge stomp to Olimar's shoulder, causing Olimar to cry out in pain, "Stop the match!" Krystal cried.

The Wire Frame tried to babble his objections but Krystal roared, "I don't care, just warp them here, NOW!"

In a flash, the two were warped back to the viewing room, Olimar still grimacing in pain. Krystal picked up her little Koopa trainee and let out a sigh, "You're hurting Olimar, Junior. Do you even know what could have happened had I not been around?"she yelled.

"I'm sorry Krystal, but you told me to fight him like I ment it!" the Koopa whimpered, obviously shaken by Krystal's mood.

"Don't you see? This is just what Nasir wants, to prove you wrong, to prove that Fire Dragons are idiots! Do you want that to happen?"

Krystal asked, already knowing the answer.

"No!" Junior cried, his eyes red with anger and injustice.

"Then we have to get the evil out of you."

Junior blinked confusedly, "Get out the evil ? And how do I do that ?"

Krystal smiled, "Come with me you two."

Junior followed his teacher, with Olimar cautiously following behind him. The three eventually made it to the Training Room, "Sit down Junior." Krystal commanded, gesturing to one of the mats in the center of the room.

Junior sat down, "First, hold your hands together." Krystal began

Junior did as commanded, "Then bow your head."

Junior bowed his head, shifting uncomfortably, "Now say, 'I am

calm, I am strong'." Krystal finished

"I am calm I am strong." Junior recited, his head tilting some, "I don't feel anything yet!" the Koopa complained.

"Keep saying it."

After about a minute of this, Junior felt the most amazing thing. His

muscles relaxed for the first time since he was a baby, he found himself able to breath deeply, and he wasn't even angry, which was a big deal to him.

"He-hey, Krystal! I think it's working!" Junior yelped, getting to his feet and hopping excitedly.

Krystal giggled as Little Mac walked into the room, holding a plastic shopping bag.

Krystal raised an eyebrow, â€œWhere've you been all day Mac?" the blue fox asked.

"I've been down at my cousin Merlin's getting these together."

Mac dumped the contents on to one of the mats revealing a blue and

White pair of boxing gloves with matching shorts, spiky cufflinks, and a badge in the shape of the letter 'K'

"Is that…?" Krystal asked half-bemused.

"Our team wear from now on." Mac finished, "We work as a team, we dress as a team. Junior, I believe these belong to you." he said

throwing the blue spike cufflinks to Junior, "Sweet." Junior said, examining his new cufflinks.

"I suppose the badge is for me?" Olimar asked, picking it up with his free hand.

"Yeah and..¦.what happened to your shoulder?"

Olimar looked at Krystal who just shook her head, "Nothing. Just over

did the Rocket Fist, that's all."

Krystal was still pleasantly surprised by Little Mac's gifts, "Little Mac, why the team wear? We are just an alliance after all."

"I say it's a ¦tribute to a pretty darned good teacher."

Krystal was beside herself, and blushed deeply. "I'm flattered and I

thank you. Class dismissed." Krystal ended as the three began to walk out of the room,

"You stay Junior." she said just as Junior was about to leave,"Go share that technique with your father. It'll make his

relationship with the world a whole lot better, trust me." Krystal explained, and smiled sweetly.

Suddenly, the PA system kicked on, "Would any Lightweights interested competing in the Number one Contender's Gauntlet please come down to the meeting hall please?" Master Hand's voice echoed.

"MY LAPTOP LEAKS MERCURY!" Crazy Hand boomed as the PA cut off.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Krystal prodded, slanting him another smile.

"You really think I should?" Junior asked, as if unsure.

Krystal nodded and the Koopa headed to Meeting Room.

Bowser Junior gulped as he saw a man with a camera standing in front of the Meeting Room table, "Welcome to a Video Game Sports Network

Investigative report, I'm Kenchi Hideyoshi reporting to you live from Smash Mansion as the Lightweights sign up for the first ever Gauntlet Match for the Number One Contender's spot."

Bowser Junior sighed as the camera turned to him, "It appears Bowser Koopa Junior is the first to pick his entry number."

Bowser Junior grinned triumphantly. All he had to do was pick the last spot and it would be an easy ticket. As he approached the

camera, Kenchi leant down to him, "Bowser Junior, before you sign the sheet, what do you think of Link's sad death?"

Bowser Junior thought for a moment, unsure exactly how to put what he wanted to say, "Link was a credit to Smashers

everywhere, and I'm sorry for his untimely parting." he said simply.

Just then, Meta-Knight walked up to the camera, "Oh, here comes, Meta-Knight, the prime suspect in Link's investigation." Kenchi

sneered

Meta Knight elbowed the nosey interviewer in the gut, causing him to waddle off camera, "Whatcha doing?" Meta-Knight asked with false

curiosity.

"Signing up for the Gauntlet for your title." Junior said simply, a little nervous of the puff-ball knight's appearance.

"Good, good. And what spot were you going to pick?" Meta-Knight

asked.

"20."

Meta-Knight shook his head, "If you want to REALLY make a name for

yourself, and earn my respect" Meta-Knight pulled the sword to the

Koopa's neck and held it to his throat gently, "You'll enter at Number 1."

Junior, who at that moment decided that he wanted to keep his neck in

one piece, signed the sheet for number 1 and hurried off, waiting till he

rounded the corner to smack himself in the head, "Great." Junior moaned quietly as he reflected on what had happened.

(Dum Dum Dum! This next chapter will be interesting, considering it's the day before the gauntlet, Oh and thanks once again to Bowser Junior Nutt

for making this better. I own Kenchi Hideyoshi but no one else at this point.)


	8. Chapter 8: Believers and Not

Chapter 8

Believers and not

"You did what?" Roy asked when Junior had told him the tale the next morning.

"I know, it's so stupid." Junior sniffed, still finding his actions regrettable. He was scared. Not only for his title, but for his life as well.

Roy knelt down to Junior's level, "Now, if your father ever whined like you are, do you think he would've become the emperor he is today?."

Roy asked his friend, hopping to cheer him up.

Junior sniffled some before replying with a weak, "No."

"That's right. He worked hard to make it to where he is now, and he didn't do it by whining. Now, chin up and get to training." Roy

said patting his pal on the shoulder.

Bowser Junior smiled thankfully and ran off to find Little Mac, who was

in the gym working with a punching bag, "Hey Mac, what number did you sign up for?" Junior

asked "I signed up for number eight. Anyone named Knuckles seems like the

kind of guy I want to face." Mac explained, "I heard you signed up for Numero uno! Good luck brother, you're going to need it." Mac warned him as he left the gym.

Krystal was next in, with a large smile on her face, "Well, here's Number one!" she said cheerfully, which made Junior's mood a slight bit better.

"K-krystal, I'm worried. What if I mess up and…?" Junior began but Krystal cut him off.

"If you remember everything I taught you, you're going to do fine. I believe in you Junior." she said, picking up Junior for a motherly

embrace.

Bowser Morton Koopa Junior finished his time at the gym a few hours later, after which he went back to his room, at which he saw Peach, talking on the telephone, "My money's on Waluigi for this one, personally. Should

I be on Junior's side ? Please! That kid has a lot to learn, he won't make it

past Tingle!" she mused.

Bowser Junior felt as if someone had just slugged him in the chest.He hung his head. He'd never been so hurt in his life. That's

when Bowser came storming into the room, "Now listen Junior don't…" Bowser tried to say, but his son had already run out of the room,

crying loudly.

The door to Mario Mario's dorm bursted open, as he and Luigi were enjoying some Food Network on TV (the episode was on how to cook a rare type of pasta), to show a teary-eyed little Koopa.

" Momma Peach bet against me on the gauntlet." Junior choked through tears.

Mario scowled at this. _Peach _¦he thought angrily. He watched as the

normally arrogant young Koopa fell apart in front of him, and couldn˜t help but feel pity. Despite what his instinct told him, he wanted to comfort

Bowser's son. "Why that…¦Junior it's-a okay, if you âre your fathers-a son, I˜m sure you'll-a find a way." Mario smiled, confident in the little Koopa's abilities.

Luigi pulled his big brother into another room, "You do realize that this is Bowser's kid, right? The son of the guy who's interrupted any kind of sanity we've ever had since arriving in the Mushroom Kingdom-a?" Luigi ranted, breathing heavily.

"Luigi, where-a have you been for the last few days? Just-a get your inhaler and we'll-a sort this out." Mario recommended as his

brother started rummaging through his suitcase.

"Junior, I know you probably can't stand the sight of her right

now, so why don't you just bunk-a here for the night? It'll make-a your arrangements with your-a Papa okay?" Mario smiled.

"Thanks Mario, I…¦I really appreciate this." Junior smiled up at him through tears.

Later, Luigi Mario watched the Koopa shell in the middle of the room from his bed. He grinned a little, _Now that-a Peach turned out to be so_

_horrible, __There's actually a kind of respect between us_. _Never thought I'd __see the day_. Luigi thought, turning out the bedside lamp.

(AN: Hey guys! Look, I know some of you have been complaining about the

Size of the fic, but to me, this feels just right. Anyway, Luigi is an asthmatic, and if Bowser Junior Nutt agrees, it'll play and important part

later.)


	9. Chapter 9: The Dream

Chapter 9

The Dream

â€¦

â€¦

â€¦

"Junior."

Bowser Junior looked around, finding himself in what looked like a dark

fighting arena. It was empty.

"Junior!"

Bowser Junior looked around more frantically.

"Who-who's there?", Junior yelped.

From out of the gloom, a figure emerged. The figure was short, but had

A commanding presence. He had a plume of hair as red as lava wrapped up

in a pony-tail, and had a snout, with a single tooth jutting out of it. He

had reptilian skin and had spiked cuffs and a collar. He was wearing a

bandana with fangs and was holding a paintbrush. Then it hit him, Bowser Junior was looking at himself. At first, he thought he was looking into a mirror,until he got a good look at his doppelganger's face. The figure was

smiling, but

it wasn't Junior's smile. It was darker, more sadistic. And his

eyes were¦full of hate and fury,"My eyes don't look like that, my eye's don't look like that!" Junior

thought frantically.

"Who are you?", Junior asked shakily.

His double approached him, and then violently shoved him to the

ground.

"I'm you, moron.", the figure said in a twisted version of

Junior's voice.

"Me?", Junior asked, to stunned to get up from the ground.

"Yeah, I'm you, did I scare you? You look like you wet your

shell." The figure laughed in a sadistic, malevolent way that made Junior

shudder.

"You! You can't be me!" Junior said in denial.

He didn't know who this person was, but Junior could tell that he was

evil, cruel, maniacal, he was very much every evil description you could

give someone. And yet this abomination claimed to be him.

"You're nothing like me!" Junior said in a still shaky, yet firm

voice.

The figure laughed.

"Au contraire." the imposter said, " I'm more like you than you

know." The figure paused and started to pace around where Junior lay.

"In fact, you could say we're going to be very, very close, you and

I."

"Close ?" Junior choked.

The figure nodded, its grin widening.

"Junior."

Krystal's voice sounded far away, as if she was on another planet.

"Yes." the figure continued, "You're slowly succumbing to the

foolishness of that stupid fox! We can't have that now, can we ?"

Junior only shuttered, to terrified and disgusted to reply.

"You were never meant to be good, Junior," the figure said, "You

Were born to be the undoing of countless worlds, to rule all of the

universe, and crush any who stop you... or should I say, I was born to do these things."

"Junior."

Krystal's voice sounded closer. The figure took no notice.

"No," Junior said in disbelief, "I don't believe you! I'm

good! I'll never be whatever creature you are!"

The figure only laughed again, only in a deeper, more demonic voice

than previously.

"Who said you had a say in the matter," the figure growled, "The

Time is approaching. Your time will soon come, little Koopa!"

"Junior!"

Krystal's voice was louder still, but still the figure seemed not to

Hear it.

"Very soon, everyone will know your name, but not for helping the

world, but for becoming the worst thing that ever happened to it."

The figure distorted, no longer looking like him, and now resembled a

Hideous monster, rearing to attack.

"The time is soon¦for your end, and my beginning, the monster

Said in the voice that of a demon.

The creature charged, ready to rip Junior to shreds.

"JUNIOR!"

Bowser Koopa Junior awoke in a cold sweat, shaking and moaning. He looked

around to see Krystal, looking very concerned, hovering over him.

"Junior, it's time for the gauntlet! What are you doing still

sleeping? If you're not there soon you'll be disqualified! Junior, are you

alright?" Krystal asked.

Junior looked up, still badly shaken by his nightmare.

"Huh?", Junior asked, "Oh Yeah, I'm alright Krystal, I just

had a nightmare."

Krystal didn't look convinced.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Krystal asked with sincere

concern.

"Did you just say the gauntlet is starting?", Junior asked, wishing

To change the subject. He'd hate for Krystal to find out about his

dream. She may even stop him from entering the gauntlet.

Krystal looked surprised. She had almost forgot about the tournament, "Yes! You have to hurry! Come on!"

Junior grabbed his brush and ran out the door. As Krystal ran ahead of

him, he ran head first into Bowser. Bowser looked proudly upon him.

"I can't believe it," Bowser said with pride, "At your age, I'd

never have the guts or the skill to do what your doing."

Junior swelled with pride. It was just what he needed, a good dose of

confidence. Bowser's smile faded a little.

"Now listen, Junior," Bowser said solemnly, "This tournament is

one of the most dangerous in the Smash Brothers circuit."

Junior blinked, looking at his father's worried face.

"I want you to promise me that if something's to much for you,

you'll forfeit."

Junior looked at his father with surprise.

"I don't want you getting hurt," his father continued, "Above

all else, your safety is more important to me than a stupid championship."

Junior could see his fathers concern, and hugged him tightly.

"I promise, dad," Junior said tearfully. He then frowned.

"Dad ?"

"Yeah son ?", Bowser asked, oblivious to his sons worried

expression.

"Uh….nothing."

He couldn't bring himself to tell his father about his nightmare.

He'd worry to much. Bowser smiled.

"Well, go get 'em, then!" Bowser encouraged.

Junior nodded and ran off to find his team.

He rejoined Krystal and Little Mac near the entrance of the

teleportation portal, which was set to bring him to the stadium the gauntlet would take place in.

"Well, look who it is! Mr. Numero Uno! Youâ€™d better be ready to

fight me, cause I'm on fire today!" Mac said with vigor.

"Whoa! Cool it down there, you'll hurt yourself if you're that

confident." Krystal giggled.

Junior looked around.

"Where's Olimar ?"

Mac and Krystal frowned.

"Junior, his arm is still pretty banged upâ€¦He had to forfeited his

spot in the tournament." Krystal said sadly.

Junior felt a surge of guilt fill him. He bowed his head sadly.

"Did I…is he…," Junior choked, tears of guilt forming in his

eyes,"It's my fault!"

"Stop that!", Krystal ordered, which surprised Junior, â€œYou

didn't

mean it. If anyone's at fault, it's me for pushing you to do it."

Junior closed his eyes tightly in shame.

Krystal crouched down to his level and smiled.

"He wanted me to tell you that he wishes he was here, but not to be

in the tournament, but to see you fight." Krystal said warmly.

Junior looked up, surprised.

"Really?" Junior asked.

Krystal nodded.

"Really?"

Junior was so touched he almost burst into tears again.

"Okay, now to business," Krystal said, "The stadium that was

chosen was Kanto."

Junior groaned. The Kanto stadium was one of the most unnerving arenas

in the Smash Brothers tournament. It's not that it was dangerous, or

unpleasant, but because of the huge crowd always surrounding it. If he screwed up, thousands of people would see it.

Krystal saw his displeasure and giggled.

"Don't worry," Krystal said, "You'll do fine."

"Until you face me, that is!" Mac said with false arrogance.

Junior playfully hit him on the shoulder.

"Good luck." Junior said spiritedly.

Mac nodded and jumped through the portal.

"I'll be watching you in the stadium." Krystal said.

As she was about to enter the portal her self, she turned back to

Junior.

"Junior?"

"Yes ?", Junior asked.

Krystal smiled.

"I'm proud of you," Krystal said warmly.

She giggled at the touched, tearful look in his eyes, and then entered

The portal. For the first time, Junior felt like he could actually win. He

Jumped through the portal, with the thoughts of his friends and family running through his mind.

-


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The Gauntlet

"speech

_thoughts_

Bowser Junior stepped through the portal to the sound of an applause at least 30,000 strong. He was overwhelmed. He had been to the Kanto stage before, but never had he seen a turnout as large as this.

Keep it together Junior thought. But the fact was, he couldn't. He had never been so terrified in his life. If he screwed up, over half the world would see it.

AND BOWSER KOOPA JUNIOR HAS ENTERED THE ARENA!" a huge voice boomed over the stadium, sending the spectators into another frenzy.

Bowser Junior staggered. _Don't show fear _he thought. He pulled

His fanged bandana over his face to hide his overwhelming terror. He looked up at the special section of seats reserved for the Smashers who weren't competing. He saw the Mario Brothers, who graciously gave him the thumbs up, his dad, who applauded harder than anyone else, Krystal, who gave a smile so warm that it could be seen even from the spectators stand, and Peach.

_He has a lot to learn, I wouldn't even put him past Tingle!,_

Peach's voice rang through his mind. Junior hung his head, something that his father did not fail to notice. Don't think about that, Junior thought. He averted his eyes and focused on the section of seats opposite of where the Smashers were sitting. It was the section reserved for the Smasher's friends and family. He recognized almost no one in the stands, but seven seats caught his eye. They were occupied by his seven siblings. They were applauding lightly, trying their best not to seem interested, but it was painfully obvious that

they were excited for him. They think I can do it Junior thought.

This made his confidence soar. He pulled Rainbow Doom out from a slot in his shell and took the position Krystal had taught him. Another flash, and a small man in a green leotard was dancing in front of him.

"TINGLE IS IN THE FRAY!" the announcer blared.

A giant flurry of applause erupted from every corner of the stadium.

Junior glared at his opponent, who seemed to be more intent on looking like an idiot than actually fighting. Sportsmanship. Always face an opponent with sportsmanship. Junior thought. He walked over to the strange man and extended his hand. The man shook it briefly, then continued dancing.

"OH, WHAT SPORTSMANSHIP EXHIBITED HERE TODAY, FOLKS!" the announcer's voice boomed, causing another spirited round of clapping. Junior shook his head. Don't they ever get tired of clapping?, he thought.

"ALRIGHT, WE ALL KNOW THE RULES! FOLLOWING NUMERICAL ORDER, 20 FIGHTERS nWILL ENTER THE RING, AND THE ONE THAT COMES OUT GETS TO FIGHT OUR CURRENT LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPION, META-KNIGHT!"

Applause louder than previously exploded through the stadium, and Junior had to fight the urge to cover his ears. Then everyone fell silent.

"ALRIGHT! READY, SET, GO!"

Junior charged at Tingle and slapped him hard with his brush. Tingle immediately flew out of the stage, much to the surprise of Junior.

"AND JUNIOR TAKES DOWN TINGLE!" the announcer roared, and a giant series of applause echoed through the stadium.

â€¦

â€¦

â€¦

Up in the stands, a spectator was going crazy. His friend looked at him strangely. "Hey, why are you so happy? You didn't even bet on the kid."

His friend said. "Yeah, but I did bet that Tingle would go down in the first blow! ¦Woo-hoo! Go Junior!"

â€¦

â€¦

â€¦

Junior shook his head. That was easily the quickest fight of his life.

_Maybe this won't be so hard_ Junior thought.

"ALRIGHT, NEXT UP, PICHU!"

A flash, and a small, yellow mouse with large triangular ears and huge, expressive black eyes was standing in front of him.

"Pi-pichu!", Pichu shouted.

_What the heck does that mean? _Junior thought.

Junior walked over and shook Pichu's small paw. Pichu beamed back and said another indecipherable phrase in Pokespeak. Junior only nodded politely and walked back to his corner of the stadium and took his position. "READY, SET, GO!" the announcer blared.

Pichu charged up, and unleashed a thundershock that bounced toward Junior. Junior quickly jumped, and then threw a paint glob at Pichu. Pichu quickly dodged and ran under Junior, who was still in the air from his jump.

_Oh no!_

Junior thought. As he started to fall back to earth, Pichu let out a Thunder attack, scoring a direct hit on Junior. He landed back to earth, with Pichu running to safe corner to plan his next attack. Junior groaned, got up, and looked at his damage-evaluation watch. Seventeen percent. I gotta be more careful Junior thought.

He picked himself up and repositioned himself. He charged over to the area where Pichu was hiding, to which Pichu let out a flurry of thundershocks, then quick-attacked to a safer place. Junior spun his brush, deflecting all of the bolts. Man, he's fast! Junior thought.

Junior started to run over to the place to where Pichu's new hiding spot was, which was on top of one of the platforms. Then, something caught Junior's eye, a Screw Attack orb. Junior quickly picked it up and jumped at Pichu. He spun in a rapid circle, giving him an extremely unpleasant feeling of nausea. How does Samus put up with this?, Junior wondered. Pichu performed another quick-attack and avoided Junior. Junior collected himself, then scowled at the Pokemon, who was grinning arrogantly. Then, Junior got an idea. He threw the orb at Pichu, who was so surprised by the move that he didn't dodge. Pichu was hit and unwillingly did a spin-attack high into the air. Junior took this chance and positioned himself directly under Pichu. As Pichu started to fall back down, Junior lathered his back with a lava-red paint and did a shell spin right into Pichu. The combined attack of burning and drilling damage slammed into Pichu, and sent him flying off the stage.

"JUNIOR WINS THE ROUND!"

A blaring applause ringed through out the stadium. Junior smiled and looked around. His eye's landed on a row of seats that had two people on it.

One was Tingle, and the other was Pichu.

Must be the bench that they go to when they're defeated Junior thought.

He looked at Pichu. The electric mouse looked a little disappointed, but happily gave Junior the thumbs up, who eagerly returned the gesture.

"ALRIGHT, OUR NEXT FIGHTER IS A VISITOR FROM OUTSIDE THE NINTENDO GALAXY, SO GIVE A WELCOMING APPLAUSE FOR TY THE TAZMANIAN TIGER!"

The crowd clapped eagerly, and watched the newly-teleported figure intensely. Ty was a tiger that two boomerangs in small holsters near the his sides. The son of Bowser walked up to the figure and extended his hand.

"Hi, I'm Bowser Junior, welcome to the Nintendo universe."

Junior tried to be polite, seeing as this being the first time Ty had ever been inside this realm. Instead of shaking his hand, however, he got Junior into a weak headlock and gave him a playful noogie. Junior was so stunned by the Tiger's friendliness that he didn't resist.

"G'day! Name's Ty, please to meet ya! Thanks for the warm welcome, mate, your blood's worth bottlin'." Ty said cheerfully.

Junior couldn't tell whether Ty was complimenting or insulting him. "Where ya from? I'm from Ozzie, me self, real bottler of a place."

Junior just absolutely no idea what or where Ozzie was, or what "bottler" meant, for that matter, but he understood the first thing he said. "I'm from the Koopa Kingdom," Junior replied. Ty smiled.

"Never been there, doesn't sound to bodgy, though. He laughed, making Junior even more confused,"Anyway, enough yabber, what dya say we go for the blue, eh?"

Junior had absolutely no idea what he said, so he guessed. "If your mean do you want to fight, sure" Ty playfully punched him in the arm.

"That's deadly, mate!" Junior just nodded, still confused, and went to his corner of the arena.

"READY, SET, GO!"

Ty pulled out a boomerang and threw it a Junior. After having previous fights with Link, Junior was used to the way boomerangs were used in combat. He stepped back a few paces. Not even Link's boomerang couldn't reach this far Junior thought. The boomerang approached and then caught fire. Junior practically jumped out of his shell. The boomerang approached, with no sign of it coming back. The flaming boomerang hit Junior square in the face, and he was sent flying backwards. Junior got up quickly and formed a strategy. He made a stream of paint come out of Rainbow Doom and then breathed fire on the stream. The stream of paint erupted into flame, and was fast approaching Ty. At the last moment, Ty pulled out a blue boomerang and threw it. The boomerang hit the stream and turned it into ice. Junior, unphased, fired an ordinary glob of paint at Ty. That's when Junior noticed Ty was holding something. It was round, and was both red a white. It was a pokeball. Ty threw the pokeball on the ground and a strange, blue pokemon came out. The worst possible Pokemon Ty could have picked for the situation, for Junior, that is. It was a Wobbefett. The paint glob hit the blue pokemon and bounced back at Junior. Junior had known what his paint felt like, but he sure did now. He found it was extremely heavy. Even though he was hit with only three ounces of magic paint, he felt like he was twenty pounds heavier than before. He tried to charge at Ty, but he was so heavy that he ran at only half speed. Ty took this to his advantage and threw yet another boomerang at Junior. I can't take much more of this, Junior thought, He'll never run out of boomerangs, they'll just keep coming back to him. Wait! That's it!

Junior stood absolutely still and let the boomerang approach him. He then threw a green paint blob at the boomerang, covering it. Junior ducked, avoiding the boomerang. The boomerang then returned to Ty. The moment Ty touched the boomerang, he became engulfed in electricity. He slumped to the ground. Now to finish it, Junior thought. Junior slipped his bandana down on his neck again and let out a sonic scream. The sound waves hit Ty and sent him flying off the stage.

"AND JUNIOR WINS IT AGAIN!"

The crowd roared in approval. Junior, who at first felt uncomfortable

about the applause, found himself starting to enjoy it. He looked at hisdamage watch. Forty percent. He looked over at the loser stand to see a flash, and then Ty was sitting there. He then gave Junior a standing ovation of applause. Junior gave him the thumbs up and focused on the next challenger. Mr. Game and Watch came next, who Junior defeated easily without taking any damage. Junior felt confident, strong, and very pleased with himself. He couldn't see anything to put him out of his good mood.

"NEXT UP, CAPTAIN OLIMAR!"

Junior felt as if a stone had been dropped into his stomach.

"OH, HOLD ON THERE, FOLKS. IT APPEARS THAT OLIMAR WAS INJURED WHILE TRAINING AND HAD TO FORFEIT HIS POSITION."

There were noises of disappointment from the audience.

"ALRIGHT, NEXT UP, JIGGLYPUFF!"

Jigglypuff was a quick match, but she did manage to score a few hits on Junior before he sent her flying. He thought about Olimar the entire fight. The crowd applauded his victory.

"AND JUNIOR STILL HANGS ON! ALRIGHT, NEXT UP, LITTLE MAC!"

The crowd roared with applause, and even Junior, who momentarily forgot about Olimar, joined in. Little Mac appeared on the stage, and he and Junior shook hands.

"No holdin' back, 'kay Junior?" Little Mac said.

Junior nodded.

"No holding back."

They went to their separate corners of the arena. On the way, Junior looked up into the audience. He saw Peach. Peach looked at him and waved. Junior began to wave back, but then she turned her hand into a thumbs down. Junior felt devastated. He put his bandana on and put it as close to his face as possible to hide his freely flowing tears.

â€¦

â€¦

â€¦

In the audience, Bowser looked down at Junior. He was looking up at the audience somewhere. He began to wave, but then a grief stricken look came over him. Bowser quickly looked in the direction and saw Peach giving him the thumbs down. Bowser snarled.

â€¦

â€¦

â€¦

_He still has a lot to learn!_ Junior closed his eyes. _Should I bet_

_on Junior? Please! His own mother didn't think he could do it. He won't make it past Tingle!_

"READY,SET,GO!"

I'll show her!" Junior thought savagely. He didn't feel like himself. Within a matter of seconds, he realized he was no longer in conscious control of his body. Junior charged Little Mac, who keenly held a defensive position, waiting to counter whatever Junior was planning to do. Junior charged with speed and strength he never knew he had. The only thing was, he wasn't doing it. He felt controlled by some outside force. Junior ran towards Little Mac and punched him so fast that Mac didnâ€™t have time to block. He threw his entire body weight into the blow and used every ounce of strength he had. Little Mac went flying off the stage.

"JUNIOR WINS IT!"

Junior felt like waking up from a dream. He looked around at the crowd, unsure of exactly what had happened.

â€¦

â€¦

â€¦

Up in the audience, Krystal watched Junior keenly. "Well, that was a little much," she commented.

Fox, who was sitting there, just smirked. "Ah, he probably just got a little over excited, that's all. This is a big deal, you know. Krystal nodded, and continued to watch the fight.

To Junior, the next few fights were a blur. He fought Knuckles, one of Sonic's friends, Kirby, Ness, Bomberman, Young Link, Sonic, Diddy Kong, and Pikachu. He was still thinking about what had happened during his fight with Little Mac. He snuck a quick look up at him during one of his matches. Mac

didn't seem to notice how hard Junior had hit him. He looked at his damage watch and gasped. One hundred and twenty percent. He groaned. He felt absolutely wiped, and knew that he couldn't keep up much longer.

"JUNIOR, EVEN AFTER ALL THE FIGHTS HE'S BEEN IN, STILL MANAGES TO HOLD ON! OKAY, NEXT UP, MEWTWO!"

Junior shuddered. Mewtwo was the most powerful light-weight, strength wise. Mewtwo teleported to the stage, not needing to use the artificial teleporter used by everyone else. Mewtwo stared at Junior. The to approached each other to shake hands. Junior collapsed, however, and Mewtwo had to use his psychic powers to lift Junior close enough to shake his hand.

"Good… luck…Mewtwo." Junior said with great effort.

Mewtwo nodded.

"You too, little one", Mewtwo said telepathically.

Mewtwo went to his corner of the arena, carrying Junior to his side using his powers as well.

"READY…SET…GO!"

Junior charged weakly at Mewtwo, but tripped. He sighed. That was it.

Junior was at his limit and he knew it, and by the looks of it, Mewtwo knew it too. Mewtwo smiled keenly. He could easily attack Junior without much

effort. However, Mewtwo was not one to attack so quickly. Just to be safe, he would read Junior's mind, so there wouldn't be any surprises. Little did

he know, he was in for a BIG surprise. Mewtwo closed his mind, and released.

â€¦

â€¦

â€¦

Mewtwo was shocked. His mind probing had been successful, yet, the results were unlike anything he had ever seen. He felt that this boy had two entities controlling his body. Was that even possible? He paused, and looked into the first entity. The first entity was that of a typical child. Arrogant, easily awed, inquisitive, artistic, all the things Mewtwo had expected to find in Junior's mind. Yet, there was also happiness, maturity,love, things Mewtwo didn't expect to find, evidence that the child would bedestined to do great things. Mewtwo stopped probing. This was Junior's trueentity, that much was obvious. But, what was this other? Mewtwo started toprobe the other presence.A dark flash of pure energy engulfed Mewtwo. He found that he staringinto the face of Junior. Yet, his eyes were not that of the small Koopaprince. They were ancient, archaic, and malicious.

"You're not welcome here" the thing said in a demonic voice.

Mewtwo felt the dark energy burn him, making him writhe in agony before

he was forcefully expelled from Junior's mind.

â€¦

â€¦

â€¦

Junior watched Mewtwo awake violently. He was tossed backwards by some unseen force. The crowd gasped. Mewtwo picked himself up and looked at Junior.The look in Mewtwo's eyes terrified Junior. It was a look in his eyes that conveyed fear. Junior didn't think Mewtwo was capable of. fear.A few tense moments passed, and then Mewtwo slowly raised his hand.

"I forfeit!"

The crowd murmured in shock, and Junior was just as stunned. Of all the people in the tournament, Mewtwo was the last person he would have thought to forfeit, especially since it would have been an easy victory, considering Junior's condition.

Don't question good fortune, his father once told him, but Junior couldn't stop himself. He knew Mewtwo was reading his mind Just what did he see that scared him so badly?

"Okay, IT LOOKS LIKE BOWSER JUNIOR WINS THIS ROUND BY DEFAULT!"

There was a strained applause. Everyone was still shocked over Mewtwo's sudden acquittal.

"OKAY, NEXT UP, OUR EIGHTEENTH COMBATANT, WALUIGI!"

A flash of light, and Waluigi was standing before Junior. He sneered a horrible grin at Junior, who was to weak to respond.

"ALRIGHT, SHAKE HANDS!"

Waluigi violently pulled Junior up into a standing positioned and squeezed his hand, hard. Junior groaned and stifled a yell.

"You don't stand a chance, kid." Waluigi whispered, "That Championship belt is all mine!"

Junior glared at Waluigi, not being able to strain a vocal rebuttal.

All of his previous opponents were good natured, and a few, like Pikachu, Pichu, Sonic, and Ty, were so friendly that Junior felt guilty about beating them. But Waluigi was horrible. He obviously wanted that belt and would do anything to get it.

I was like that once

Junior shuddered at that thought. He really hadn't taken a look at how much he had changed since he had met Krystal. Waluigi walked over to his corner of the arena while Junior weakly limped to his.

"READY…SET…GO!"

Waluigi simply started walking towards where Junior was. Junior tried

to limp away, but the pain in his legs were to intense to get away. He then noticed something laying next to him. A capsule. He threw it on the ground and, to his delight, saw a few pieces of food lying on the ground. He ate them rapidly, and then looked at his damage counter. Ninety-seven percent. He healed quite a bit, and felt his vitality increase. He got up shakily and faced the arrogant Waluigi. He was so busy strutting that he didn't notice Junior healing himself. Junior smiled and took off his bandana, then produced a loud sonic scream. Incredibly, Waluigi saw this and started spinning. The spinning created a miniature tornado, and the noise of the tornado nullified the effects of the sound waves. Junior scowled and charged. Although he felt considerably better, he was still running on empty, and knew he wouldn't last a long standing fight with a speedy opponent like Waluigi. He would have to conserve his energy and beat him with a few, powerful attacks.

Alright, mystrongest attacks are my shell spin, my sonic scream, my flare-paint, and my electro-paint, Junior thought, But I can't use those in a combination, Waluigi already saw me use them. I'm going to have to rely on some attacks I haven't used yet.

Junior stopped running and pulled out Rainbow Doom. He motioned Waluigi with a taunt, who started to charge him. Junior quickly drew an orange circle of paint around himself. This particular paint, which Junior had dubbed shield-paint, would create a giant shield of acid-paint to protect him if touched. Waluigi charged him and jumped over the paint. Juniorquickly changed strategies and tried so shell spin, but didn't see that

Waluigi had a fan-item in his hand. He threw it a Junior and knocked him into his own paint. The paint activated, and burned his reptilian skin. He screamed in pain and weakly rolled away. He quickly checked his watch. One hundred and five percent. Waluigi may not be very smart, but he quick when it came to battle. Junior charged at Waluigi and tried to do a shoulder thrust but Waluigi quickly side stepped and did a downward chop onto Junior's collarbone. Fighting through the pain, Junior quickly tried to trip Waluigi with his tail, but he jumped and did an aerial kick at Junior's head, knocking him to the ground. The crowd gasped. Junior tried to get up, but fell back to the ground. That was it. Junior knew it was all over. Waluigi laughed and picked Junior up with no effort at all he carried him over to the edge of the Kantostage and held him over the ledge.

"End of the line, kid, I'm the champ now!"

Junior, using every once of brain power and physical stamina he had left, quickly came up with a plan. He quickly lathered himself with paint, making him many times heavier. Waluigi was so surprised and unprepared by the sudden change in weight that that he fell forward, bringing Junior with him. However, Junior sent up a thread of paint and latched on to the ledge. He quickly pulled himself up to the ledge as Waluigi fell out of the arena. Junior strained himself, and after a few tense moments of struggling, hefinally lifted himself back onto the stage.

"AND JUNIOR PULLS OFF A SURPRISE VICTORY!"

The crowd roared in approval, everyone standing up to applaud Junior's well earned victory. Everyone, that is, except Junior himself. He felt so weak that he couldn't stand up even if he wanted to. There was a murmur in the crowd after the applause ended. Everybody was worried about the young Koopa. He wasn't getting up!

"BOWSER KOOPA JUNIOR, CAN YOU CONTINUE FOR THE LAST FIGHT?"

For a few moments, Junior didn't respond. But then, Junior weakly got up,tripping many times while doing so. His face was streaming with tearsfrom the pain his body was exhibiting from doing such a simple task as standing up.

"Y-Ye-yes..I can make it,â€ Junior said in a strained voice. All of his sonic screams had hurt his throat, and talking was extremely painful.

"WHAT A FIGHTER, FOLKS! I THINK HE DESERVES ANOTHER ROUND OF APPLAUSE!"

The crowd sent out a flurry of applause so loud that it hurt Junior's ears. He turned his head over to a section of the audience were his siblings were sitting. They were no longer trying to hide their excitement, they were clapping and rooting just as loud as everyone else, maybe even louder. Junior felt fresh tears sting his eyes. He couldn't give up. He had gone tofar. Yet, he knew in his heart that he couldn't stand another fight. Hedidn't have strength to look at his damage watched, so he looked at the scoreboard in the front of the stadium. One hundred and sixty seven percent. Just one hit, one hit and he could easily be sent flying.

"ALRIGHT, OUR LAST CONTEDER OF THE NIGHT, GIVE IT UP FOR KING DEDEDE!"

A fat penguin wielding an enormous mallet appeared. There's no way

he's in the lightweight class. Junior thought grimly.

"WHOA, HOLD ON FOLKS! I'VE JUST BEEN HANDED A NOTE SAYING THAT KING DEDEDE HAS BEEN DISQULIFIED FOR LYING ABOUT HIS WEIGHT!"

The crowd gasped.

"What!?" Dedede yelled in his distinct western accent, "That there's crazy talk!"

A group of Wireframes spilled out on the field and dragged King Dedede away.

"You can't do this to me! I'll throw you all in the hoosegow for this!"

Junior sighed. Maybe he wouldn't have to go through another fight.

"FORTUNATLY, WE HAVE A LAST MINUTE REPLACEMENT! GIVE IT UP FOR, FAWFUL!"

A small, green man in huge spectacles and a large cape walked onto the

stage. Junior scowled. He had never met Fawful personally, but he most

definitely knew of him. Especially considering what he and his master did to his father.

The man walked over to where Junior was standing. Junior grudgingly

held out a tired hand. Fawful grabbed Junior's hand and squeezed, tearing thick nails into his flesh. Junior tried to hold back, but found he could not. He gave out a cry of pain, causing Fawful to squeeze harder, drawing blood. The crowd saw this and started to boo loudly, a few even throwing things.

"HEY! THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE A FRIENDLY SPORT! WE WILL NOT HAVE ANY OF THAT, FAWFUL!"

The crowd agreed loudly. Junior cradled his bleeding hand and glared hatefully at Fawful, who glared just as hatefully back.

"You think you'll win, you little fink-rat?", Fawful said, "You're just a spoiled little prince, you'll never be remembered for anything but failure."

Junior just scowled and limped weakly back to his corner of the arena, to which Fawful did as well.

"ALRIGHT! THIS IS THE FINAL MATCH! THE WINNER OF THIS FIGHT WILL GO ON

TOMMOROW TO FIGHT META-KNIGHT FOR THE LIGHT-WEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE!"

Junior stood shakily at his corner. He felt a fury boiling inside of him, and it directed at the small man he was about to face.

"I am calm. I am strong," Junior repeated, trying desperately to

control his rage. "I am strong."

"READY…"

"I am calm"

"…SET…"

"I am strong. I am…"

"GO!"

"Calm."

He collapsed onto the floor. He weakly tried to get back up but found that he couldn't. Fawful laughed wickedly and walked over to the young Koopa prince. Junior felt the anger inside of him boil up, despite his mantra. Fawful stood over Junior and kicked him hard in the face. A flare of pain exploded in Junior's head.

"You can't win here, boy."

He kicked him hard again.

"It's people like you that make me sick. Brought up in royalty, having everything you want, and thinking that automatically makes you worthy for greatness." Fawful hissed.

The crowd was booing loudly. Nobody wanted to see this short, stumpy,

despicable man defeat the underdog Koopa prince who worked so hard to get where he was. Fawful didn't notice.

"Well, news flash for you, squirt"

He kicked him again.

"Greatness is something that will forever be out of your reach."

"Why?" Junior choked through pain filled tears, "Why do you say this?"

He kicked Junior hard again.

"Because," Fawful whispered, "I know all about you. You want to grow up to be some great leader, to be remembered and respected through out yours and everyone else's kingdoms. You want to make your father proud, to be a great heir to your throne, and you only believe this to be because you were brought up told you were to do so."

Junior said nothing.

"All of your friends and family, they don't believe you can really do these things. They're just waiting for you to fail."

"Shut up." Junior whispered.

"Your father, your mother, your siblings," Fawful said.

"Shut up," Junior said a little louder.

"Your opponents, your guardians, all of these people in the stands," Fawful ranted in an ever growing voice.

"Shut up," Junior said loudly.

"And especially that stupid fox girl! She doesn't believe in you! She just wants to see you fail! She just wants to see you…"

"I said SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!" Junior screamed in a voice that was not his own.

His voice echoed through the stadium, silencing everyone in it. Junior

found himself embracing his fury, letting it spill out. He jumped up and gave Fawful, a punch so hard that Junior didn't even know he was capable of such strength. He heard a sickening crack, and realized he had just broken Fawful's nose. He reared back and gave a powerful knee thrust into Fawful's midsection, who doubled over in pain. Junior then opened his mouth and let out a stream of bright blue flames over Fawful, who suddenly became ablaze.

â€¦

â€¦

â€¦

The crowd was so transfixed by Junior's sudden viciousness, that nobody noticed the scoreboard, which showed Junior's damage percentage, jump strait to zero. Krystal sat worriedly in the stands. What was wrong with him?

Fox looked over and saw her.

"Hey! I'm sure there's an explanation for this. That guy was insulting Junior a lot while kicking him in the head, he probably just let his anger get the better of him, which is probably a good thing, cause it looks like this just might win it for him."

Krystal looked at her lover and nodded.

"Yeah! Yeah, you're right."

They continued to watch the fight.

Junior was pulling every move he knew, and quite a few he didn't know, and unleashed them all on Fawful. He hit him with rapid succesion, using every ounce of power his small body could produce. Fawful was essentially beaten to a bloody pulp. Finally, Junior raised his brush.

"Nobody insults my friends." Junior said in a voice soaked with venom.

He nailed Fawful with his brush, and sent him flying off the stage, and

His damage meter went back to one sixty seven again. He failed to notice,

however, as Fawful was flying off the stage, that he was smiling.

."My task is done." Fawful whispered before he flew out of sight.

As Junior watched Fawful fly off into the distance, he felt like himself again. He was then hit by a titanic applause from all sides of the stadium. People stood out of there seats and clapped, threw there hats up in the air, and chanted his name. Junior looked around. He saw everyone in the loser's bench, excluding Waluigi, standing up and giving Junior a standing ovation. He looked up at the smashers seats. He saw his father clapping loudly, with what looked like tears rolling down his eyes. He saw Peach, ripping up a betting ticket in disgust, making Junior smirk. And Krystal. the noticed her over everyone else, and saw the look of absolute pride in her eyes as she clapped.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE HAVE A WINNER! BOWSER KOOPA JUNIOR, TOMORROW,

YOU'LL BE FACING OFF AGAINST META-KNIGHT FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP BELT! CONGRATULATIONS!"

He felt applause hit him on all sides. He felt incredible. He did it.

He proved all odds. And now, tomorrow, he was going to face

Meta-Knight for the title of champion. Junior felt the last ebb of his strength fade away and he collapsed onto the Kanto stage floor. Bowser Koopa Junior passed out with a smile on his face.

(AN: Hey yo! This is NFE7. I just wanted to say, that this chapter of a Koopa's Story, above all else, is dedicated to "Joe Yo" my belated brother. He was an underdog, just like Bowser Junior, and also, he fought a good fight. However, he gave out at the very end as well.)


	11. Chapter 11: Darkside Known

Chapter 11

Darkside known

(Okay â€¦linebreak. That is all.)

Krystal, Roy, and Little Mac supported Bowser Junior, the new contender

for the Lightweight Championship, by the shoulders as the tired Koopa

slumped through the halls of the mansion,

"See? I knew you could do it!" Krystal yelled excitedly.

"Guys, I think there's only one way to celebrate this, ¦pizza on

me!" Roy proclaimed.

"Now you''re talkin' Red. Make mine a pepperoni, medium." Mac

said.

"I'll take a small cheese." Krystal added.

"I'll take a veggie pizza with extra sauce, a small one.â€ Junior

moaned.

By this point, the three had made it to Junior's dorm. Krystal had

helped the small Koopa on to one of the beds.

"Guys, can you leave us alone for a little while?" Krystal asked,

the two nodding in response and leaving the room.

"Junior, you seemed a little stressed before the gauntlet. Something

you wanna talk about?â€ Krystal asked, sitting down next to Junior

"Well," Junior said reluctantly, "Y-yeah, I do. This

morning, I had a nightmare. I saw a dark figure, and when I could

make him out in the roomâ€¦he was me! But he didn't look like me

though, he had a bandana and one big ugly tooth. Most of all, he was evil!"

Junior hissed at the word 'evil'

"Go on." whispered a thoughtful Krystal.

Junior sighed and looked out the window. There was a bird making a nest

on the sill.

"He said that I was never meant to be good, that I had the power to

Rule and undo universes."

"Oh my.â€ Krystal said, â€œI've had many nightmares such as that

one myself. The only remedy I can think of is just think positively, and if

you ever find yourself getting angry, just take a deep breath and do what

we practiced." Krystal explained.

Junior's eyes never wavered, still staring tiredly at the bird on the

windowsill.

"Have you ever had a voice calling to you in your dream,¦ as if to

try and

sway you back to good?" Junior said suddenly.

"Fox's voice." Krystal said with a giggle.

"Well, in my dream, it was yours."

Krystal blinked, unsure of what to think.

"You know, up until the dream, I never believed that their were

angels and stuff, I always just thought there was some sort of higher power, but now, I believe in angels. I just wanted to say thank you"

Junior turned back to Krystal and smiled brightly.

"¦For being my Guardian Angel, Krystal." Junior said.

Krystal, on the verge of tears, picked up the little Koopa and gave him

a big hug, "I couldn't be prouder of you." Krystal whispered, setting the Koopa down.

Just then, Peach burst through the door, followed by Bowser who was

Nearly hidden by the giant stack of shopping bags he was holding. Peach looked furious.

"Get out! Get away from my son or I shall call security." Peach

bellowed. Krystal was momentarily shocked, but then seemed just a livid.

"Oh, and I don't see you trying to be a good mother!" Krystal

snapped, standing up from the bed, her body tensing as if she were about to

pounce.

That's when Bowser stepped in between the two, "Girls! Knock it

off!"

Bowser roared causing both to look at him. He dropped the things he was

holding and looked softly at Krystal.

"Krystal, first of all I just want to say thank you for helping my

Son through hard times."

He then turned to Peach.

"Now Peach, we're through."

"WHAT!?" Peach screamed, causing Krystal and Junior to cover their

ears

"You've been very demanding of me and frankly everyone else since

we got together. At first, I thought the Mushroom Kingdom, the very piece of land that I've worked for over twenty years to get my hands on, was worth your disturbingly frequent rage. But, I found something that was worth more to me than anything in the whole world, my son." he said, looking down at his smiling offspring, "And no faulted relationship is worth seeing him so mortally upset as he was yesterday or today, no matter what the cost." Bowser finished by picking up Peach over his shoulders.

"Juniorâ€¦you'll help Mommy out wonâ€™t you ?" Peach pleaded as

Bowser was ready to throw her out the door.

Junior gave Peach a thumbs up and a big smile, which Peach returned.

However, his expression darkened as he changed the gesture to a thumbs

down. As Peach gave her son a dumbfounded look, Bowser tossed her lightly out the door.

"And please, be so kind as to STAY OUT!" Bowser yelled, slamming

the door, â€œWhew, glad that's off my chest." Bowser said, shaking

Krystal's now extending hand. He started to look a little nervous and cleared his throat, "Say. W-would youâ€¦like to go out to dinner some time, ya

know, just as friends?" Bowser stuttered looking at Krystal

"I would like to very much. I can't wait to tell you all about what

Your son has been learning with me. I might even show you some

techniques."

"Wow, even better!" Bowser said with a somewhat dorky grin as

Krystal giggled and left the room

A moment of silence was shared between father and son before Bowser

spoke up, â€œSoâ€¦you ready for the fight with Meta tomorrow?"

"Of course." Junior replied quickly.

Now, I've got some advice. See, Meta-Knight's been at this whole

combat thing before you were even born, and he's very by-the-book

from what I can tell. So, my suggestion is, think outside the box. Mix it up a

little bit, go crazy! Remember, in Smash, you don't get points for style, so

don't do a move unless you're sure it'll work.â€ Bowser

explained.

Junior nodded and then smiled.

"Of course Pappa. I won't let you down!"

Suddenly, Little Mac came into the room, "Yo Little B, pizza's

here, and we got enough for everybody in the newly formed ˜Bowser Junior Fan Club.' Would ya like to join us for a little pizza Big B ?" Little Mac asked

"Sure." Bowser agreed, smirking at the thought of his son having a

˜fan club'.

"We'll see ya there, Punches McGoo." Junior chipped in.

Little Mac raised an eyebrow, "You've been watchin' way to many

cartoons Little B. ,that was terrible." Little Mac scolded jokingly

as he closed the door.

Eventually, Bowsers Junior and Senior made it to the Great Hall. One of

The long tables was filled, a giant pile of pizza boxes in the middle.

Occupying the table were Marth, Roy, The Mario Brothers (Mario was holding hands with Zelda), Krystal, Little Mac, The Stat Fox Crew and even Captain Olimar,

Arm sling and all. Bowser Junior's eyes sparkled at the sight, " I have

this many fans?" Sweet." The small Koopa nodded as the two took their

seats.

The dinner, dispite being very late at night was rather active. The

group talked, laughed, and talked about their homeworlds. Once the

conversation had quieted to small murmurs. Junior turned his attention to Olimar, the man occupying the seat directly across from him, "Olimar, if I win the championship tomorrow, I want you to have the first shot."

Olimar smiled, "Junior, I'm touched, but I can't accept a

bribe…" the explorer began

"No no, it's the least I can do to repay all the physical therapy

and surgery Doctor Mario's putting you through. On one condition

though."

"What?" Olimar tensed

"Don't use the Rocket Punch, I want our match to have a clear-cut

Winner and loser." Junior explained

Olimar shook Junior's hand with his free arm, "I'll do it."

â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€

Junior went to bed that night, extremely pleased with himself, but

Still focused on the final stage in his quest to become a champion.

(AN: For those who don't know, physical therapy is painful I know, I

Do it every other Thursday for my injured legs.)


	12. Chapter 12: Championship Match

Chapter 12

Championship match

Bowser Junior stood in the portal room the next afternoon, excited as

ever, not even glancing at Meta-Knight or the championship belt he had over his shoulder, just at the platform that would take him to The Final

Destination, or as it was renamed just this year, Championship Arena. Just then, Krystal walked in picking the Koopa up, bringing him to her level, "Junior, as much

as I wish I could stay, I've got to go pump up Fox for his exhibition

against Rhydon. All I wanted to say isâ€¦I'm so proud of you, and so

is everyone else. To me and Fox, you're like a nephew to me, Junior."

Krystal said giving him a light kiss on the forehead and setting him down, leaving the room shortly thereafter. As Junior sat in a stunned silence, he could've sworn Meta-Knight gave him

a thumbs up. To further prove the Koopa's point, Meta-Knight mouthed

'Lucky you' to Junior under his helmet as the PA system kicked on

"Meta-Knight vs. Bowser Junior, you're up." the monotone voice

droaned The two stepped into the portal

â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€

The two were warped to opposite sides of the Championship Arena,

"GO!" the announcer yelled

Bowser Junior unsheathed his paintbrush, setting it brush-up on the

Ground in front of him, and started to lather his hands with paint, "Sorry,

Just need a little time to prepare." Junior said, continuing to lather his

Hands as Meta-Knight just watched confusedly.

Just as Junior was about to finish, Meta-Knight made a dive for the

Rainbow

Doom, but Junior lifted the staff up at the last second, causing him to

Slide under Junior completely. Junior then used the staff to draw a circle

Around the area that Meta-Knight was standing on. Junior raised his hands,

causing the part of the stage itself to disconnect and hover about 10 feet off

the ground. He then made a flipping motion with his hands and the platform

turned and slammed back on to the ground. Junior then flipped the platform

back up and tried to lift it again, but Meta-Knight jumped off the platform,

latching on to Junior's face, hitting him with right hands until Junior fell,

as did the platform, back into its normal position. As Meta-Knight hammered Junior,

he slapped his opponent's hands, and used his own hands to move his

hands up, leaving him completely unguarded. Junior kicked Meta-Knight hard in the stomach shoving him to his left. Meta-Knight attempted to swipe Junior with his sword, but the Prince of the Koopas bent backward some, springing back up and hitting Meta-Knight with a few knee strikes, sending him back down. In response, Meta-Knight did a back flip into the air from the floor and spread his cape-based wings, flying right into Bowser Junior's stomach sending him crashing down. Meta Knight then pointed his sword at Junior and sped downward, but Junior rolled out of the way. As Meta-Knight tried to unstick his sword from the ground, Junior tackled the knight and hit him with his claw strikes.

Meta-Knight's wings spread again, shooting both Smashers upward.

However, Junior managed to get free of Meta's grasp and they both dropped to the ground, breathing heavily and staring each other down, "How about

this?"

Meta-Knight asked.

He swung in a circle, his cape expected to hit Junior. However, when

the attack was finished, their was something radically different with the

soldier's appearance.

His cape was multicolored.

Junior raised his hands up causing Meta-Knight to skyrocket upward.

Just before Meta-Knight went off camera, he unhooked his cape, dropping

again. He then did a spin attack again, this time hitting Junior. Then the area

around the arena darkened.

"GALAXIA DARKNESS!" Meta-Knight bellowed.

Meta-Knight swung without mercy at Junior, each blow an explosion of

blinding light. When the light dissipated, both Smashers stood in surprise, Bowser Junior looking completely unharmed

"How…?" Meta-Knight stammered.

"Dark? Get real," Junior smirked, "Here's some real shadow

power."

Meta-Knight stood there confused for a moment, but then realized that

Bowser Junior was no longer wearing his usual fang bandana, but a blue one with a mustache painted on. He slid the bandana on to his snout, and turned into Shadow Mario, pummeling an exhausted Meta-Knight

with punches and kicks. Then, the shadow was absorbed in his hand

revealing Bowser Junior, "Shadow Finale." Junior screamed as he unleashed a move very similar to Mario's Final Smash, sending Meta-Knight off camera

Bowser Junior sank to his knees. In all of his wildest dreams, he

couldn't

have believed that he had done what he did.

He was the new Lightweight Champion

"This game's winner and NEW Lightweight Champion, BOWSER JUNIOR!" he heard the announcer yell as he was teleported back to the mansion

â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€

Upon entering the Teleportation room, he was presented with the belt by

a Wireframe. After which, Bowser trapped his son in a giant hug,

"Junior! You have no idea how proud I am!" Bowser yelled, "Not even 5 years old, and already a fighting champion!"

"Dad…shell…cracking" Junior choked.

Bowser set his son down, at which the Young Koopa was tackled by Little

Mac

"Dude, you did it!" Little Mac screamed.

"I know." Bowser Junior whispered back as he pulled himself and Mac

up

Krystal ran into the room hugging the little Koopa, "Good

show Junior! You've just set the standard for everyone, young one!"

Krystal said joyously. Mario and Luigi hoisted Junior up on their shoulders, causing the Koopa to laugh uncontrollably, his mind full of joy. He decided in that moment that is life was complete. He had everything he ever wanted, Peach was gone, and even the Mario Brothers were his friends. The celebration continued as he was carried down the hall, belt and all.

â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€ â€

Bowser Senior had been in the back of this makeshift parade when a

voice

rang in his mind.

_Bowser, over here_

Bowser looked into the hallway to his immediate left to see Mewtwo, who

was leaning against the wall. He was staring at Bowser with his usual

unrelenting stare. The elder Koopa chuckled at this, "I'm surprised you want to talk to me in person, if you're so intimidated by my son." Bowser

chuckled, but the look on Mewtwo's face silenced him immediately.

_That's what I want to talk to you about, Bowser._

Although Mewtwo almost never made any facial expressions, his eyes

seemed to convey every emotion he felt. That was why it was so intimidating when he stared at anyone, and Bowser was feeling the full brunt of that stare.

"Look, what do you want?" Bowser demanded. He had a feeling that,

whatever Mewtwo had in mind, Bowser wasn't going to like it.

_I forfeited becauseâ€¦because your son has a dark energy welling up_

_Within him unlike any I've ever felt._

Bowser felt the happy feeling that had been welling up inside him come

to a screeching halt.

"D-dark…energy?" Bowser whispered, still suppressing horrible

memories from the last time he screwed around with magic.

Mewtwo nodded slightly, his eyes narrowing.

"¦My son?" Bowser asked desperately.

_Yes, I am afraid that there is nothing that can be done. The only_

_thing_

_you_

_can do is wait until it unleashes._

Bowser shuddered. Mewtwo always put things in blunt way, but always in

an accurate way, as well.

"What will the energy be like? Will it be a transformation, like mine ?"

Mewtwo nodded his head in a painfully slow way, and then blinked

slowly.

Dark _energy works in mysterious ways. I was created with_

_cataclysmic amounts of dark energy, so I'm a bit of an expert on the matter. How it disappears varies from person to person, and on what type of dark_

_energy is present. Sometimes it simply dissipates with time. Sometimes, through religious sanctity it can be cleansed from the body, and even for some it can completely disappear when the mind comes to a realization, like mine did. Your son, however, has a certain type of dark energy, one that cannot\ be removed except by releasing it_

Bowser listened intently.

_â€˜I know this is hard to digest, but your sonâ€™s_

_dark energy is 100 times more powerful than yours once was... Even_

_larger_

_than mine was, in fact. He will not be able to be defeated once it is_

_unleashed. I have no idea what this energy will do to him.¦ With the_

_amount he has right now, if he releases, it could kill him._

Bowser shook his head slowly, then buried his face in his hands. They

stood like that for minutes, with Mewtwo being ominously quiet. Finally,

Bowser looked up at Mewtwo.

"Listen, Mewtwo, I need a favor."

Mewtwo stood there quietly for a few moments, then nodded his head

again the same, painfully slow way.

_Yes?_

" donâ€™t want Junior to find out about this. Not yet. He's so

happy now. I-I couldn't ruin it with something like this.¦But I need to

make sure he's safe. Can you look after him? Just watch out for anything

unusual?"

Mewtwo stared for a few moments, and nodded his head again.

"¦And," Bowser continued, "Could you look up more into this

Dark energy business? See if anything can be done?"

Mewtwo nodded his head. Bowser sighed.

"Thank you Mewtwo. This means a lot to me"

Mewtwo nodded again, a ghost of a comforting smile on his lips.

_˜I'll do whatever I can, but Bowser, you're going to have to_

_tell him eventually._

Bowser hung his head, "I know, I know, but not now. I can't"

Mewtwo was silent, and then nodded.

_I understand_

Bowser thanked him once again and he lumbered off, thinking about what

to do. Mewtwo watched the haggard Koopa walk away, slowly shook his head, and levitated off, thinking deeply about the troubling events that had been occurring lately.

A dark figure stood in the distance, balancing on one of the gigantic

paintings that the mansion held, " Hehehe, knew it! Once the Koopa brat

breaks,

he'll be ours for the taking. Fawful, I want you do get in touch

with our friends, we've got a few more people to exterminate."

"Yes your graciousness." Fawful stuttered from another place in the

room.


	13. Chapter 13: Fox versus Rhydon

Chapter 13

Fox vs. Rhydon

Fox left his girlfriend's side with a kiss, waving goodbye to his friends and darted to the teleportation room, where Rhydon, the heavyweight division Pokemon was waiting for him, a horrible looking scowl upon his face. However, when he first noticed Fox, his lips curved into a smile, "So, you must be Fox. I'm pleased to meet you." Rhydon said in an insane voice that made McCloud shudder.

"Fox vs. Rhydon, you're up." the monotone voice told the two.

The opponents stepped into the teleporter to be taken to Planet Zebes.

"ALRIGHT YOU TWO, SHAKE HANDS!" the announcer commanded

Fox offered a paw to Rhydon, but he only slapped it away as they made their way to their corners.

"GET READY, GET SET, GO!" the announcer's voice boomed.

Fox ran at Rhydon who made no move to attack. Completely unphased by this, Fox hit his running low kick. However, Rhydon's skin was about as

hard as a rock, so Fox had no choice but to clasp his foot in pain. Rhydon drew his left fist back and hit Fox right in the nose with a sickening crunch. Fox knelt down and checked for blood. Sure enough, he nose was bleeding

profusely. Rhydon picked up the much lighter Fox by the throat and hit him with a light head butt. Rhydon picked him up by the throat again but this time Fox was able to kick Rhydon hard in the stomach and get out of his grasp. He used the Fox Illusion and rammed right into Rhydon which made him stagger backward. He used it again and Rhydon staggered even further backward. However, when he went for it the third time, Rhydon simply kicked him in the head mid-run. As Fox fell to his stomach, Rhydon nearly punted Fox's head as he to the floor completely. Rhydon then picked up Fox and Horn Drilled him, throwing him to the other side of the arena. Fox hit the wall violently and crumpled to the floor, unmoving. Just then, a bell rang and several Wire Frames appeared, shielding Fox from anymore damage from Rhydon. Then, Dr.Mario came jogging on to the scene checking Fox's pulse, "Get me a stretcher!" Dr.Mario screamed as Rhydon was teleported away.

That's when Krystal appeared, her fur matted with tears. She knelt down to Fox kissing his forehead, "Please be okay love, please be okay." she whimpered as the Wire Frames hoisted Fox's motionless body on to the now-present stretcher.

**Two hours later**

Bowser Junior sat at Fox's bedside, holding Krystal's hand for support. Falco tried to wipe away any tears he might've produced, and Wolf had no choice but to look away. That's when Doctor Mario came into the room, holding a clipboard, "I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is, he's not dead, but in a comatose state."

"Oh thank the Creator!" Krystal cried.

"The bad news is, it might be days, weeks, months, or even years before he reawakes. However, Fox is in stable enough condition to where his organs are functioning properly, but he just doesn't have the strength to awake." the doctor explained.

Krystal heard this, buried her face in her hands, and sobbed.

Junior hung his head, trying to erase any thought that there was something he could have done.

The news of Fox's injuries silenced any joy in the mansion over

Junior's new title. Many of the smashers in the mansion liked fox. And Fox's

close friends, like Falco, Olimar, and Samus were particularly disheartened.

But still, no one in the mansion was as heartbroken as Krystal, who now spent nearly all of her time in the infirmary at Fox's side.

Junior was walking down one of the mansion's many hallways, submerged in thoughts about the past week. The training session with Olimar, the gauntlet match, the nightmare… Junior shuddered at that memory. The week was full of good and bad, and yet, he couldn't help feeling that the next few days would only get

worse.

â€¦

He continued to walk down the hall, and found himself running into

Little Mac and Olimar. He hadn't seen them since his title party, and was happy to see them.

"Junior, how you doin'?" Little Mac said sadly, but with some

happiness as well.

"Not to good, to be honest. This really killed the thrill of being

champion," Junior said sadly.

"Yeah," Olimar said, "Is Krystal doing any better?"

Junior shook his head sadly. Olimar sighed and the trio walked together down the hall.

"How did this happen?" Little Mac asked, "What was Rhydon thinking?! He could've easily killed Fox!"

"I don't know," Junior replied, "But for his sake I hope he doesn't run into me."

Pikachu and Pichu passed in the hall, both looking sad, and gave the

trio a sighing 'Pi' before moving on.

"Leave seconds for me, kid," Little Mac said vigorously.

"Yeah, me too," Olimar said in agreement.

Samus passed by and gave "Hey" before walking off.

"¦Say, you think she'd date me?" Little Mac asked.

Junior feigned a considering expression.

"I would think she would want to date someone who didn't, I don't know, need a footstool to kiss her," Junior said slyly.

Olimar laughed and Little Mac gave Junior a playful punch. Junior was happy that the conversation was shifting to a more friendly setting. It took his mind off of the troubling events that had taken place. They passed Mewtwo, who was leaning against the wall and watching them with intense eyes.

"Okay, Casanova, who here is the right height requirements for me?" Little Mac asked.

"Well, I've seen Jigglypuff givin' you the eye" Junior said

suggestively.

There was a second of silence, and then the three burst out in hysteric

laughter. Kirby passed by them, who only tilted his head in confusion. The laughter eventually died down and three were quiet.

"So…Uh, Junior, what really happened during your fight with Fawful?"

Little Mac asked.

Junior felt his breath catch in his throat. Ever since the fight,

Junior had

been very careful about avoiding the subject of the fight. But if had

finally caught up with him.

"Uh…, "Junior mumbled, not sure how to respond.

"You seemed so intense. It wasn't like you. Little Mac said.

"Wait, what happened at the fight?", Olimar asked.

Olimar had still been in recovery for his shoulder injury when the

fight took place, and completely missed the last battle between Junior and Fawful.

"Well, Junior was on one-oh-sixty-seven percent, and Fawful was just

wailing on him when-"

"It was nothing." Junior said quickly.

He wanted to avoid going into the subject further. The group passed Mewtwo,

who nodded as they passed. _'Wait a minute, didn't we just see him?'_

Junior thought.

"Sure didn't look like nothin." Little Mac said, "I've seen the way you fight, Junior, as a Professional Boxer I'm very good at telling how someone fights. The way you fought Fawfulâ€¦ It was so aggressive. So vicious, it was as if you had become a different person. What happened?"

Junior said nothing.

"¦Hello? I said, what hap-"

"I already told you it was NOTHING!" Junior exploded with sudden

viciousness. He didn't even mean to, it was as if his body was no

longer listening to his own commands.

Mac and Olimar flinched considerably, badly shaken. Out of the corner

of his eye, a short distance back, Junior noticed Mewtwo's eyes widen. The

group had stopped, and nobody said a word for what seemed like an eternity.

"Guys, I'm so sorry, I-I don't know what came over-"

Mac raised a hand.

"Look, you don't want to talk about, it's okay." Little Mac

said.

There was another awkward silence.

"Listen, I forgot to train today, so I'm gonna just go do that,"

Little Mac said.

"Yeah, I actually have physical therapy," Olimar said sadly.

"Guys, I didn't."

"Look, it's okay! Seriously, I do need to train," Little Mac said.

Junior look solemnly at both of them, and could tell they were telling the truth.

"Okay."

The two nodded and headed in separate directions, leaving Junior there to wonder. What came over him? Why did he just suddenly attack them? He was at a loss. He stood there a few more minutes before looking over his shoulder. Mewtwo was gone. Junior sighed, and stood there wondering a few more minutes and before going off to find Krystal.

â€¦

Mewtwo behind the corner of the hallway Junior was just in. True to his

word, he was keeping an eye out on the koopa prince.

'_His dark energy has gotten worse.'_ Mewtwo wondered, _'What's_

_going to happen to him?'_

Mewtwo did not waste time pondering this, but instead went off to his room to meditate on how to stop the looming crisis that was speeding into their lives.

Little did he know, the crisis would be triggered very soon…


	14. Chapter 14: Morning Announcements

**Chapter 15: Morning Announcements**

The light from the window next to Fox's bed fell upon the drowsy vixen. Stretching, still deep into the early-morning tiredness that came to everyone when they woke after a hard night's sleep, Krystal looked up at the digital clock on the wall. 7:14 in the morning. Sighing heavily, she came over to Fox's bedside to look for any signs of improvement. The scars from the battle, she noticed, were beginning to mend, but he still showed no sign of growing consciousness. She felt like crying at this, but found that she could no longer shed any tears. She had already used up her entire supply the previous night. Wondering how she must look, Krystal looked to her immediate right at a mirror hanging on the wall. Sure enough, she looked like a total wreck…

With a gentle knock at the door, the female wireframe who attended the front desk entered in, making Krystal jump a little. She would normally never let anyone see her this unkempt. The wireframe, thankfully, didn't seem to notice.

"Good morning, Krystal", she said, "How did you sleep?"

"Pretty well, all considering," Krystal responded, "It was kinda quiet. Fox usually snores when he sleeps."

The wireframe nodded sadly. "Has there-?"

"No. No signs of waking."

"I'm so sorry, dear. Just try not to lose hope, okay? It's only been a day, after all. I'm sure he'll come out of it sometime."

Krystal looked up. "You really think so?"

The wireframe nodded earnestly. "He's a real fighter. The fact that he lived through those injuries shows that."

Krystal smiled. It was a great comfort for her to hear this. "Ugh, I feel like a wreck. All the showers are probably taken up by now, though." It was typically an hour wait before one could use one of the few showers in Smash Mansion, and that number doubled for every hour past six o' clock. There was probably quite a line there by now.

An odd look overcame the wireframe, and she shook her head. "Everyone's at the breakfast hall this morning. They were too eager to get the news on what happened last night."

Krystal remembered the explosion that rocked the mansion not too long after ten o' clock. "Do they know what happened? Where was the explosion, anyway?"

The odd look deepened on the wireframe's face. "One of the windows in the library was blown out of the wall last night." She sighed. "I'm a little shocked myself, frankly…"

"What happened?" Krystal repeated. What could cause the library windows to blow up?

The wireframe gave a small, ominous frown. "It was Mewtwo. He apparently got very angry for some reason in the library and destroyed a good portion of it. He blew out the window with a shadow ball, and then burned a large section of books nearby with psychic sparks. He should be thankful that he didn't start a fire."

"You're kidding me!" Krystal exclaimed, "Mewtwo? He loves that library! And he almost never loses his temper! What made him so angry?"

The wireframe shrugged. "I have no idea. When I got there to see if anyone was hurt, he was just standing there by the hole he made in the wall and stared off into space. He went with the mansion security without a fight, but all he said was that he desperately needed to see the Master Hand for some reason."

That didn't make much sense to Krystal. If you blow a hole into the wall of the Mansion, the last person you would want to see is the Hand. She imagined the Hand went absolutely ballistic when he found out that a very large portion of the library, containing some of the most valuable texts from several worlds, was destroyed, along with the adjacent wall and window.

"I'm afraid I don't know any more than that, though, dear," the wireframe said. "If you're still curious, you could probably meet up with everyone else at the breakfast table to find out."

Krystal thought about it for a moment. Rhydon was probably there, considering that the Master Hand had personally told her that there wasn't enough proof to write off what happened as anything more than an accident, and she didn't think she had the stomach to see that monster's ugly face right now. However, Falco, Wolf, and Junior were probably there too, and she dearly wanted to see them.

"Yeah, that sounds good. I really need to get out and about again, anyway. Although…" She looked over her shoulder at the mirror, and shuddered a little. "I think I'll probably take that shower first."

The wireframe nodded with a little grin and escorted her out of the hospital wing.

"You'll let me know if there's any change, right?" Krystal asked at the hospital entrance.

"You'll be the first one I'll call, Krystal," the wireframe said.

With a quick nod, Krystal rushed off towards the showers, hoping that there was still one available so that she could join up with her friends as quickly as possible. The wireframe watched her go, shaking her head sadly and wondering just what was happening to Smash Mansion.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Indeed, just as the wireframe had said, the breakfast room was filled with an inordinate amount of chatter. All of the things that had happened yesterday, from Bowser Junior's surprise victory in the championship match to Fox's hospitalization to the mysterious late-night explosion, were still fresh on everyone's minds, and people were eager to share their opinions on these matters. As a consequence, wild theories began sprouting up like weeds.

"So let me get this straight, Roy," Marth said flatly, "You think that Mewtwo lost a large sum of money betting on Meta Knight to win in the championship fight, and that he blew a hole in the wall because he messed up a magic spell he read in one of the library books that would have allowed him to travel back in time to fix the fight so Meta Knight would win?"

Roy fiddled with his omelet. "It's not _that_ far out the realm of possibility, you know."

"Uh, actually, it _is _out of the realm of possibility, Roy," Marth responded.

"How?"

"Oh, let me think. Number 1: Mewtwo is a Pokémon, meaning that he _doesn't have any money_. Number 2: Even _if _the library had a book that let you travel through time, don't you think someone else would have found it before this? And Number 3: _Smashers aren't even _allowed_ to bet money in the fights, you dunce_!"

"He's got you there, man," Little Mac said over his bowl, "Say, speaking of Mewtwo, I haven't seen him this morning. Haven't seen the hand, either, for that matter."

"That's probably because he's still up in his office yelling at Mewtwo," Olimar pointed out, "Haven't seen Junior, Meta Knight, or Krystal, either."

"Or Rhydon," Falco, who didn't normally sit with them, said darkly.

"That's right," Mac nodded along with several others, "No one's seen him around since his match with Fox. How are you two doing, by the way?"

"We're getting along," Wolf said, taking a drink from his coffee mug and grimacing, "God, why can't we get any good food in this place?"

"Because Kirby and Yoshi always eat anything good we buy," Olimar said "Remember that time we tried to buy Luigi a cake for his birthday when-… hey, Junior! Over here!"

Bowser Junior had just walked in. Even though he had slept in due to how late he had stayed up the previous night, he didn't look very well rested. Junior, his tired expression brightening upon seeing them, came over with his breakfast tray and pulled back a chair.

"Morning everyone," he said, stifling a yawn.

"Someone sure looks tired," Roy said, "Up celebrating all night, were you?"

"No, just… just had a bad dream, that's all," Junior said casually, causing Olimar and Little Mac to look up from their breakfast.

"Well," Roy continued on, "Why don't you tell us what you think went down last night?"

Junior blinked confusedly. "What did happen last night?"

Everyone at the table looked up at him in surprise. "You mean you haven't heard?" Marth asked.

"Uh, no," Junior said with a frown, "I only just woke up. So, what happened?"

"Mewtwo blew up part of the library," Marth said emphatically.

"Hah. Yeah right. Seriously, though, what did happen? I heard that explosion and-"

"Junior," Roy said, sounding uncharacteristically serious, "It's no joke. Mewtwo actually blew up the library."

Junior looked around to see any joking faces amongst the group, and saw there were none. "You're serious?" he asked incredulously, "You're actually serious? Mewtwo blew up the library?"

"It's true," Little Mac said, "Apparently he got really pissed off for some reason and decided to go crazy on the nearby book shelves. The explosion itself was from when he blew up one of the library windows with a shadow ball."

Junior didn't immediately respond, but instead seemed to be in grim thought for a moment. "Where is he now?" he asked finally.

"Probably still getting an earful from the hand," Roy said.

"It's been nine hours," Junior said skeptically, "How could anyone possibly yell at someone for that long?"

"He did almost $10,000,000 of damage in there," Marth said, "If someone came and destroyed something of mine that was worth that much, I'd probably yell at them till I collapsed of malnutrition."

Junior said nothing, once again lost in his thoughts. Little Mac, using this time to gather his will, decided to give him the news they had all dreaded to deliver.

"Uh, Junior, there's something else," Little Mac said cautiously. Everyone at the table suddenly looked very uncomfortable.

"Yeah?" Junior said, confused by the way that everyone was acting.

"Well… Uh, ya see…" Little Mac attempted, seeming to choke on the words he was trying to say. Giving up speech with a sigh, he instead pointed over to a nearby table. Junior looking in the direction Mac was pointing and groaned. Peach was there, sitting at a table with Wario and Dedede.

"Yeah," Olimar said, "She came in around the time of the explosion, apparently. I don't' know how you're dad's taking it, I haven't seen him this morning either." Both he and Little Mac were watching the young koopa carefully, who was glaring heatedly in Peach's direction. There was a glint of something foreign in his eyes, and it gave him an unusually sinister look. However, no else at the table seemed to notice.

"Why did she come back?" Junior growled.

"No one's asked her yet," Falco said, "It's odd though, isn't it? That she just happened to come back around the same time that Mewtwo went nuts?"

Junior said nothing, continuing to glare at Peach with unnatural carnality. His eyes were no longer their normal cool slate color, but instead were a freakish yellow-red. They seemed coldly predatory, and were considering Peach the way a cat does when it sees a songbird with a broken wing. This time, Olimar did see these eyes, and had to keep himself from uttering a moan.

"Junior," Little Mac said, knocking his fist against the table, causing Junior to tear his view back towards them. The alien look in his eyes had vanished, and was replaced with what looked like shame. And fear.

_It's that thing again, whatever it is,_ Little Mac thought, his eye's meeting with Olimar's. _No kid can put that much hatred into a glare like that. It's just not natural... Something's doing this to him, no question about it. And I'll bet my gloves that Mewtwo is somewhere close by…_

As if by some divine, unspoken cue, the doors to the lunchroom opened, revealing the psychic Pokémon himself, the usual look of calm intensity on his face. The hall went deathly quiet and all heads were turned upon his direction. Mewtwo, not really looking at anyone, didn't seem to notice. He levitated himself calmly over to a deserted table that was directly behind Junior.

"Hey, Mewtwo!" Wario called out loudly, "Burn any good books lately?"

He howled with laughter at this, along with Peach. Dedede gave a nervous chuckle, but carefully avoided Mewtwo's gaze. No one else in the hall dared make a sound. As Wario continued laughing, one of his breakfast muffins levitated off of the table and then violently shoved itself inside of his mouth, silencing him. This provoked some relaxed laughter, as it was the kind of response that Mewtwo would normally make. Not even turning in Wario's direction, Mewtwo levitated one of the herbal teas from the breakfast bar over to himself and sat down in a chair that was literally inches behind Junior. Junior, more curious than worried, didn't particularly mind this but everyone else at the table was quite unnerved to be in such close proximity with the psychic Pokémon.

"Why's he sitting so close to us?" Roy whispered quickly to Marth, "He usually sits with the other Pokémon. What's he up to?"

"I don't know," he replied, "Seems kind of fishy to me though…"

"Maybe he's lonely," Junior whispered back, shrugging, "Everyone's been avoiding him lately, including the other Pokémon. Maybe he just wants to be around some people, that's all."

"I don't think that's the reason, Junior," Little Mac said aloud, causing the table to cringe. Mewtwo didn't notice.

Just then, the doors opened once again. Junior wheeled around quickly, hoping to see Krystal or his father, but saw that it was only the Master Hand. It was always difficult to tell what kind of mood the hand was in, mostly due to his lack of a face, but the smashers, who had grown accustom to reading his odd body language, recognized that he seemed very exhausted. He floated a little slower than he usually did up toward the main table, followed by his brother, who twitched and fidgeted in his usual grotesque manner. The hall was once again quite as the hand reached his table and turned towards the smashers. His low, unusual voice emanated powerfully from his mouthless form.

"Smashers, may I have your attention," he said, seemingly oblivious to the fact that everyone was already giving him their complete and undivided attention. "There are a great many things that need to be discussed this morning."

He paused, apparently surveying his silent audience, then slowly continued. "I am more than aware that all of you desire an explanation to the events that have occurred as of late. All of you have been effected by these occurrences in one way or another, and I'm not fool enough to think that you all will just accept a couple of half-hearted reassurances without ever being told the truth. You all desire peace of mine and to have your concerns mollified, which, in light of what has happened, is perfectly understandable. Now, as the founder of the Super Smash Brothers competition, I wish to see to it that the questions held by the friends and family of the victims sitting here today get answered. And I am going to see to such a matter personally."

The Smashers looked around at each other. The hand didn't usually make announcements unless it involved personal gain, telling off people who break the rules… or for the direst of situations.

"I have arranged an explanation for you this morning regarding all of the things that have so recently come to pass. I _want_ to go uninterrupted during this explanation, but knowing all of you, I very much doubt that I will get my wish. Know this: I am not in the mood to be crossed right now. If any of you wish to upset me, then know that you do so at your own risk."

There were nervous whispers. The Hand seemed deathly serious.

"Now, as you listen, I want you all to keep in mind that I am not required to do this. There is no law or consequence that obligates me to provide you with all the information that you wish to hear. If I were to say nothing to you this morning, I would pay no price, and in all honestly saying nothing to you all would probably be a wiser choice on my part. I could say nothing… but I wouldn't sleep soundly tonight, nor would I be able to bear looking at myself in the mirror. As low as all of your opinions may be of me, do not think that I am without a conscience. However, I will say only what _I_ feel needs to be said, and only because I, and no one else, feel that you deserve to know."

More whispering followed this.

"Before I get started, however, I wish to acknowledge the efforts and valiant sacrifices that one of our smashers has recently made. Having shown great perseverance in the face of tremendous odds has rewarded him with the well earned honor of being our new Super Smash Brothers Lightweight Champion; it is my pleasure to recognize the victory of one of our youngest smashers: Bowser Junior."

There was some applause, causing Bowser Junior to blush a little.

"Is there anything you wish to say on your behalf, young koopa?" the Hand asked.

Junior stood up and looked around hesitantly, still wondering where Krystal and his father were. "Yes. I couldn't have done this without the support of my friends and family," he said simply. There was more applause, a little louder this time. Peach made a gagging motion at this, to which Junior pretended not to notice.

"Is that all you wish to say?" the hand asked. Junior wanted to say more, but he knew that everyone, including himself, was eager to hear the hand's explanation. "Yes, sir. I'm done." He sat back down, receiving warm looks from his tablemates.

"Very well then," the Hand stated. "Before I forget, I should announce that despite the recent happenings yesterday, exhibition matches will continue today as scheduled. Also, now that all weight class champions have been selected, we will soon begin our tournament to decide this year's Ultimate Super Smash Brothers Champion. There will be more information on that later."

The hallway doors opened once again, causing heads to silently turn. It was Rhydon. Furious glares shot out from almost every table, but none so heated as the ones that emanated from the table that Falco and Wolf were sitting at. Falco even shot Rhydon the bird right in front of everybody, an act that under any other circumstances would have likely garnered him a week's worth of punishment duties. Rhydon paid no attention to him, however, and walked over to sit down at a deserted table, his face difficult to discern.

"Alright," the Master Hand said, causing all eyes to turn towards him once again, "I will now deliver my address to you all." He cleared his throat. "The first event that I will speak of involves the hospitalization of Smasher Fox McCloud."

Several glares returned to Rhydon, then quickly went back to the Master Hand.

"During the exhibition match between Fox and fellow Smasher Rhydon— happening at approximately 19:47 hours military time, if anyone cares to know— Fox sustained heavy injuries that include both of his arms and legs being broken, seven broken ribs, a punctured lung, internal bleeding, massive bruising around the throat and torso, and heavy fracturing at four different locations on his skull. He is currently alive, but in a comatose state. It is unknown if he will ever awaken."

Nearly everyone was glaring hatefully at Rhydon, and more than a few were making obscene and violent gestures towards. The Master Hand's presence was probably the only thing stopping the Smashers from lunging at Rhydon and beating him to a bloody pulp.

"An investigation was performed immediately following the incident. I won't go into all of the details about the investigation itself, but I will give you both the investigation's and my own shared conclusions on the matter: the evidence gathered shows no evidence that Smasher Rhydon was at fault during the incident, and that the severity of the injuries that he inflicted upon Fox was accidental."

"What! That's bull!" The silence was broken by outraged cries from Falco and Wolf, who stood up quickly in anger. Most of the other smashers voiced similar notes of outrage at this announcement. "How the hell can you do that to someone on _accident_!" Wolf snarled, arousing cries of agreement. Rhydon did not react to this.

"That's _enough_," the Master Hand said with deathly calm, cutting through the sound in the room like a sword. The agitated smashers quickly sat down, remembering the Hand's earlier warnings of not being interrupted. Falco and Wolf sat back down as well, although still with expressions of utter contempt. "Whatever the laws of the worlds you all hail from may be, the Super Smash Brothers competition takes place on land owned by the United States of America, and as such must abide by their laws that state all who are accused of a crime are innocent until proven guilty."

Indignant muttering followed this. However no one apart from Falco and Wolf appeared ready to disagree with the Hand on the matter.

"Now before I go on, Rhydon has personally requested that he might be given the opportunity to say his mind to you all this morning, to which I have agreed. I expect the utmost degree of self control from each and every one of you as he speaks," the Hand said threateningly, "Rhydon, you may now say your mind."

Rhydon stood up, his face still difficult to read, and faced towards the sea of utter hatred that emanated towards him. He cleared his throat. "Hey, everyone…" he said awkwardly, attempting a smile but miserably failing. It was at this time that everyone noticed how utterly exhausted he looked, and how he seemed to be trying to hide it. His eyes were red and puffy, as if he had recently been crying. He paused for a second, and then sighed, looking rather defeated. "Look," he seriously, "I'll be frank with you all. I'm not gonna pretend that everything's going to be alright after I'm done talking. I don't expect anyone here to hate me any less for what I've done, and I don't expect to get any sympathy from anyone in here today. In fact, I honestly expect to get beaten up by somebody, if not _everybody_ here,as soon as breakfast is over." He actually gave a choked laugh, a small, miserable sound. "Smash has been like a family to me. Everyone in here's like family to me personally, whether you feel the same way about me or not. I mean… come on. I've lived with all of you. I've eaten in the company of all of you at every meal. I've shared Christmas and Thanksgiving and New Years Day along with all of you…" He trailed off, as if lost for words, then shook his head a little and came back to attention. "I can't say I get along with everyone here, but I do the best that I can." He sighed. "You're all like family to me. And so is Fox…" He took a deep, nervous breath, then continued. "If anyone here is thinking of beating me up as soon as the Master Hand is done with his announcements, then let me at least say this: I seriously doubt that anyone here can hurt me as much as I deserve to be hurt. Fox was…_ is _a good friend. He'd always cheer people up if they lost a match, and he'd always root for the underdog in every tournament."

Junior swallowed thickly. He'd never really thought about how much he owed Fox for his support during the Lightweight competition.

"He supported me, and everyone else in this mansion… I…I myself don't even know what happened during that match I had with him," Rhydon said, his voice getting progressively shakier, "While I was fighting Fox, he didn't seem quite like himself. He… he was acting so aggressively to me. When I tried to shake his hands he said something _horrible _to me, and I was so shocked I slapped his hand away. Looking back, I see now know that it was a really idiotic thing for me to do. He might have just been having a really bad day or something, a-and he might have just trying to vent himself a little. Instead of letting him get out his emotions, I just ended up making him angrier. When the match started, he came at me with… with such…" He paused, his breathing getting a little bit faster, "_Ferocity_… I was afraid that he might actually hurt me. I… I was eventually so terrified that I lashed out at him. I was trying to st-stop him…" He was crying now. "I-I just wanted him to stop! T-to make it so he wouldn't _hurt_ me! I was so upset, I-I didn't even r-realize what I was doing to him un-until the match was ended!..." He trailed off, sobbing miserably.

Many of the smashers looked totally shocked. They had been so horrified by Fox's injuries that they never even considered that Rhydon might have just been trying to defend himself. Junior's table was utterly flabbergasted. Roy and Marth looked speechless in horror, now feeling horrible pity for the sobbing rock Pokémon. Falco and Wolf, by contrast, looked murderous at the notion that their friend had been at fault in the incident, and looked like they were only barely restraining themselves from launching themselves at Rhydon. Olimar and Little Mac looked surprised, but were entirely not convinced by Rhydon's display. Junior wasn't even looking at Rhydon. Instead, he was looking at Mewtwo, who was staring fixedly at the sobbing Rhydon in a fashion that Junior was all too familiar with. _He's trying to read his mind,_ Junior thought.

Rhydon suddenly stood up and ran out of the hall, still crying, leaving the room silent once again. The room was as still has a galleria of wax figurines, all openmouthed at what they had just heard and witnessed. The only two who didn't look shocked or furious were Mewtwo, who was instead looking a little disappointedly in the direction that Rhydon ran off in, as if he had been expecting something, and Bowser Junior, who found Rhydon's entire speech to be so laughably ridiculous that he knew that no one could _possibly_ have believed it.

"Well," the Master Hand said after nearly a minute of pure silence, "That's that. I have nothing more to say on this matter. Time to move on to other business. The second item concerns the reports from the autopsy done on Link's body."

The heads whipped back towards the Master Hand in perfect unison at this, everyone momentarily forgetting all about Fox and Rhydon.

"I'm quite sure that much of the information has already been leaked to you, so I don't know exactly what you've been told so far. Again, I don't see any need to get into the specific details about the autopsy, but I will tell you the conclusions made. Link suffered a massive gash across his chest, cutting through the sternum, ribcage, and both lungs as well as nicking the aorta. The cause of death was declared to be due to massive blood loss. Now, again, I doubt this is new information to any of you. I doubt it's even the technicalities of Link's death that you're really concerned about, either, so I'll just go right to the point."

Once again, the room was completely stiff in anticipation. The Master Hand gave a moment of pause, and then went on.

"The weapon that inflicted the injury upon Link was found to be a widely serrated cutting object of some sort, most likely a sword. Considering that one of the weapons contained in this mansion was in fact a sword of such description, an investigation was done to try to identify if this act was a homicide."

The Hand paused, a different kind of pause then the previous ones, before speaking again.

"The results were… were found to show that Link's death was most likely accidental."

Zelda, in tears, jumped up with a seething visage. "That's a LIE!" she roared, "That was no damn accident! Meta Knight killed him, and _you know it_!"

Similar angry shouts arouse, filling up the chamber with intense noise. The Master Hand snapped his fingers, a huge, explosive sound, and everyone was once again quite.

"Do I need to repeat myself?" the Hand said wrathfully, "We cannot accuse anyone without sufficient proof!"

"What the hell do you mean, 'sufficient proof'?" Ganondorf shouted out angrily over the silence. He might not have liked Link, but that didn't mean that he would allow a crime of this magnitude to go unpunished. "You expect us to sit here and swallow this accident crap! There is no other way that he could have gotten those wounds; it had to have been from Meta Knight's sword!"

Voices of agreement rose up again, some with shouts of rallying violence against Meta Knight. Samus, sitting two tables away from Junior, was appalled. Over her travels she had witnessed riots, looting, and even a coup d'état. As such, she recognized a mob when she saw one. _This is insane_, she thought, _someone's seriously going to get hurt if this gets any worse._

As the shouts got wilder, the Master Hand's temper broke. He slammed a fist over his mahogany table with such force that it broke in two like a Styrofoam board.

"I AM NOT GOING TO SIT HERE AND LET MY COMPETITION BECOME THE SCENE OF A PUBLIC LYNCHING!" He roared, making the walls quiver. The smashers cowered into their seats at the Hand, fearing that his rage might lead to physical violence. Even Crazy Hand, who usually wasn't afraid of anything, seemed subdued by his brother's fury. Several tense seconds passed. Finally, the Master Hand's angry posture seemed to slaken. He lifted his fist off of the jagged splinters of the table and returned to his calm, open handed possition. When he finally spoke, his voice was one of pitiful disappointment.

"Do any of you think I take this matter lightly?" he asked tiredly, "Do any of you think that I don't have any doubts of my own? These events have affected me more than any of you know, and when I say that there is not enough evidence to convict anyone of Link's death or Fox's assault, it is because I believe it in my heart to be true. "

The smashers were quiet. The hand went on.

"I have half a mind to stop right here, seeing as you all would rather see to it that blood is spilt rather than hear the truth. I can't say that I haven't expected you to act this way, which is why I had Rhydon arrive late this morning and had Meta Knight not arrive at all, but I still can't help but be disappointed in all of you."

The smashers looked utterly ashamed, many looking at their feet or at their breakfast trays. The hand sighed.

"I'm tired, myself, and it's been affecting my way of thinking. Many of you are fearful and angry over what's been happening lately, and I imagine that it's been affecting the way you are all thinking as well. It is forgivable to want to accuse the first thing you can think of in order to defeat your fears and sate your anger, but to act violently on these impulses is the behavior of lawless cowards, not warriors. I can't force you to unconditionally accept everything that I've said this morning; I don't even expect you to. All that I ask of you is that you listen."

These words killed the fury within the crowd. Almost everyone looked horribly ashamed, and some even looked disgusted with themselves, at how they had been behaving. No one spoke for a long time, the guilty silence being held for what seemed like minutes before the Hand finally sighed.

"Okay," the Hand said, "I want to get the last bit of this over with as quickly as possible so all of us can leave. The final matter that I wish to discuss is about the explosion that occurred last night."

A few individuals looked up tensely at this, Olimar and Little Mac included, but for the most part the smashers were still too busy digesting what the Master Hand had said to them to care very much.

"The explosion, occurring in the library, was caused by Mewtwo when he destroyed one of the library walls with a shadow ball. Several books and bookshelves were also destroyed in the process."

A few turned curiously to see how Mewtwo would react to this, but other than that no one seemed to show much animosity towards Mewtwo for this action. Or, at least _almost_ no one.

"You know what I think?" Mac whispered to Olimar, making sure that no one else could over hear. "I think he got pissed that none of those occult books he loves so much held the right kind of spell that he wanted…" Olimar, hearing the implications of this, nodded and said nothing.

"Mewtwo admits to having willfully destroyed a large portion of the library after becoming upset while reading," the Master Hand continued, "I don't think it's necessary for me to say what reason it was for, other than the fact that it was something that anyone of you might have gotten angry over."

Mewtwo looked totally calm as the hand said this. Junior looked closely at the psychic Pokémon, thinking back to how strangely Mewtwo has been acting around him lately. Does he know?, Junior thought. Does he know about

_(__you were never meant to be good)_

_(you were born to be the undoing of countless worlds, to rule all of the universe, and crush any who stop you)_

_(__the time is soon… for your end, and my beginning)_

whatever it is that was happening to him?

"Mewtwo has already accepted punishment for his action, and is now absolved of all the charges made against him."

The hand looked up at the clock, causing many of the other smashers to do so as well. It was 7:15. The hand had been talking for almost a whole hour. "One last thing before everyone is dismissed," the Master Hand said, "Link's funeral will be held three days from now. I expect all of you to be there to pay your respects to him and honor the memories you have of his life."

More silence. Birds were chirping in the trees by the windows, and the sun was finally fully shining over the horizon. It looked to be a very pleasant day.

"Alright," the Hand said, "You're all dismissed."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

At 5:00 in the morning, Bowser was sitting on rock within one of the forests that surrounds Smash Mansion. It was a quiet little grove, one that Bowser visited whenever he needed to be alone. He looked awful. His hair was scraggily and messy, he had a terrible early-morning odor, and he had enormous bags underneath his blood-veined eyes. Not that he cared. In all honesty, his appearance was about the last thing he was worried about right now.

He did not sleep at all last night, something unusual in its self for him, as he typically slept like a rock. He had spent endless hours in bed, staring at the ceiling as if an interesting book was printed on it, and thinking over and over about what Mewtwo had said to him. Even after all of those hours he spent thinking in the dark, he could still hardly believe what he had been told.

His son had become the vessel of dark energy. And according to Mewtwo, this was not just any dark energy. Oh no, it wasn't like the garden variety kind of dark energy that that was as common to young children as colds and the chickenpox. It was apparently the kind that, according to Mewtwo, _might _be the cause for some concern over. Bowser laughed at this thought, a pathetic kind of sound that was totally foreign to him. But in his defense, it was a laughable thought. Junior? His young son who loved to paint and play golf and still believed in things like Santa Clause and the Tooth fairy? Containing evil forces of darkness and destruction the likes of which the world has never seen? He was still half expecting someone to jump out and cry 'April fools!' on him.

He was shivering a little bit. It was very cold out, but Bowser actually didn't mind. When he was a child, his father had told him that a cold morning always meant that a beautiful day was ahead. His eyes narrowed. A beautiful day. How could any day ever seem beautiful to him again, knowing what he did now? Once, he might have enjoyed a beautiful day like this, perhaps by going out and spending time with his son. They might have played tag, or baseball, or maybe even gone swimming in Smash Lake. Or maybe they might have just done nothing. He and his son, sitting outside, just enjoying the bright sunshine and the cool breeze, would have made him just as happy as long as he was able to do it with Junior. Now, the beauty that the coldness promised him this morning only served to mock the mortal pain that was in his heart.

Snarling in frustration, he suddenly punched a nearby tree so violently that it left a deep imprint of his fist in the bark. Blood trickled down his knuckle, but he didn't care. Why was this happening? Why? He didn't understand it. He wasn't an expert on dark energy, but he was educated enough on the subject to know that the kind of dark energy that a terrified a guy like Mewtwo didn't just pop into young kids all of a sudden. It just didn't happen.

That is, unless they've been possessed by something. Like a demon. Or something even worse. Bowser shuddered. In a cruel world, seeing your son succumb to the possession of a malevolent entity and having to watch as its evil infects them like an incurable cancer is just about the worst thing imaginable. He felt the helplessness swell up inside of him, festering within him like a gangrenous wound. He felt totally alone. After all, who was there to go to that might provide him comfort, or, even better, might provide some for his son? Not Peach, who was perfectly willing to make her son feel both worthless and unwanted (she'd might even blab about it for the attention if I told her, he thought angrily). Not the Master Hand, as he was positive Mewtwo had already explained the situation to him. He supposed Krystal was a possibility, but then again, did he really want to serve that information to the person Junior has been growing a maternal connection to when even _he_, his father, couldn't view him the same way anymore? No. It was probably best that he kept this information completely to himself.

_You're going to have to tell him eventually_…

The echo of Mewtwo's words hit him, and suddenly he was furious again. Did Mewtwo think that was so simple? Did he think that for a father to tell his son that he is destined to such a horrible fate is as easy as asking him how his day was? To see the look of hopelessness in his eyes as he realized that no one, not even his father, could help him? What the hell gave Mewtwo the right to _ask_ him such a thing?

Why, the truth, of course, he thought miserably. That was what gave Mewtwo the right. The ever beautiful and hateful bitch-goddess that we call the truth. Didn't a man with cancer have a right to know that he was almost certainly going to die from it? Yes. Didn't a person in a car accident have the right to know that they'll never be able walk again? Yes. Didn't a woman whose baby had died during birth have a right to know that she had been left childless? Of course yes.

Then didn't his son have a right to know about the black power that he contained?

A cardinal perched atop a nearby tree, its little chest puffed out as it proudly sang its beautiful tune. Bowser ignored it.

He had to do it. He had been able to put it off by saying that he's too happy right now to be given such information, but that excuse wouldn't hold for long. Eventually, he was going to have to tell Junior what was happening to him.

And that's when the horrible realization finally hit him.

"Will I be _able _to tell him?" Bowser whispered.

His question was answered only by the singing of the cardinal. There, in the cold thicket bathed by the light of the early dawn, the great Koopa King covered his face with his hands, and began to weep.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The hunter sped towards his client's planet. He had obviously heard of Earth before, but this was the first time he had ever actually traveled there. Upon seeing it, he had to admit, it was a very pretty planet: green forests, white clouds, several large oceans and capped with large glacial poles. Deserts, plains, jungles, mountains, sparkling cities. A _very_ nice planet. If it wasn't for its warlike inhabitants, it would have been the perfect planet for him to conquer, too. Oh well.

"This is K-Tr, approaching destination," the hunter said into the speaker, "You hearin' me, Freakful?"

"That's _Fawful_ you idiot!" a shrill, nasally voice answered over the intercom, "And you were supposed to address me by my code name so my identity can remain a secret!"

"Was I?" the hunter mused, "Must have slipped my mind. Well, I guess it doesn't matter, anyway, seeing as you just blabbed your name over the airwaves there."

Angry grumbling was his only response. The hunter grinned.

"So, are we still on for this thing? No changes of heart, I hope?"

"Of _course _we're still on, you dolt!" the speaker buzzed, "If my mistress and I no longer required your 'services' do you think I'd still be here wasting my valuable time talkingto the likes of _you_? Idiot!"

"Whoa, calm down there," the hunter soothed, "You know, you're taking this thing way to seriously, my friend. There's really no reason to get so upset."

"_Upset!_" the intercom shrieked, "_Listen here you spindly Cyclops, if you screw this job up for my mistress, she'll see to it that you won't even be able to get a job shooting paper targets at the carnival!_"

The hunter rolled his eye.

"Your cheerful voice and kind words are only surpassed by your dazzling good looks, my friend," the hunter said wistfully, causing the intercom to go through another series of shrieks. _Geeze_, the hunter thought, _the_ _guy's gonna give himself an ulcer with that kind of temper_. He listened as the intercom spouted a string of horrid threats and profanities for quite a while, all the time having a very amused grin on his face.

"Look," the hunter said as the intercom finally quieted, "You just tell your boss that she's got absolutely nothing to worry about. I'm the best shot in the whole biz, good buddy."

"_For your sake, you'd better hope so!_" the intercom screamed once again, "_We payed for a cold blooded killer to see to someone's death, not some disrespectful fink-rat that treats it all like a joke!_"

"…"

"_ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME!_"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, I hear you loud and clear, Finkful. Anyway, I'm just about to enter the atmosphere now. I'll see you at the rendezvous point."

"_THAT'S FAWF-!"_

He turned off the intercom, enjoying the silence. A guy could only take so much 'sunshine' in one sitting, after all. He unfortunately met a lot of guys like that in his trade; apparently, the only proper way to act as a bounty hunter is to behave like little more than a robot with absolutely no fun or humor at all. Yes, a lot of previous employers had chewed him out over his mannerisms, but none of them ever complained after he got down to the actual business. In a trade where only the very best are hired, skills are far more important than a hard-ass personality.

"And I've definitely got the skills," the hunter said, grinning.

His target was an interesting one. He was a Pokémon (Whatever _that_ is, he thought), and one that was apparently very famous even outside of Earth. Going by the name of Mewtwo, this Pokémon, according to his client's file, possessed incredible intelligence and had powers that ranged from teleportation to telekinesis. His life history was a tapestry of anger and rejection, and his personality was, to quote, "unique". Actually, he sounded like a very interesting guy. And to him, it was always more fun knowing that the person he was going to kill was interesting. Who wants to kill a boring guy, anyway?

"Nearing landing site", his ship's onboard computer said.

"Yeah, yeah, I can see that, you piece of junk," the hunter said, still with a grin.

This client was paying some serious moolah to ice this Mewtwo person, so he supposed that it would be wise to be on his "best behavior" when he greeted her, especially considering how well he ticked off Mr. Sunshine just now. Sighing contently, he activated his ship's landing equipment and waited for his ship to land. As he was nearing the ground, he had a change of heart. _Aw, the hell with it, _he thought with a full smile, _Sorry, Miss Cackletta, but you're little lackey is just too much fun to screw around with._

So much for good first impressions.

(AN: I'm baaaack. It's NFE7 here again, back with a freakishly overdue chapter of "A Koopa's Story." As usual, I'd like to thank Bowser Junior Nutt, I couldn't have done this without him. Stay tuned for the next chapter!"


End file.
